EMDR

If you suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, or another mental health condition, speak with the specialists at Spectrum Behavioral Health in New Lenox and Hinsdale, Illinois. The expert psychiatry team uses eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) to help you overcome past trauma. Schedule an in-person or telehealth evaluation today at Spectrum Behavioral Health by phone or online.

What is EMDR?

EMDR (eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing) is a form of therapy used to treat several mental health disorders.

It consists of a series of eye movements while processing traumatic or intrusive memories, helping you overcome mental health challenges in a safe, healthy way. This form of treatment allows you to avoid talking in detail about distressing situations.

What is EMDR helpful for?

Your Spectrum Behavioral Health provider might recommend EMDR if you suffer from one or more of the following:

• Depression disorders
• Dissociative disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• PTSD
• Eating disorders
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Personality disorders
• Gender dysphoria

Signs of a mental health disorder include obsessions, compulsions, extreme sadness or anxiousness, thoughts of suicide, flashbacks, and nightmares. You might also struggle with difficulty concentrating, fatigue, body aches, or harmful substance misuse.

What are the benefits of EMDR?

EMDR helps you cope with difficult situations you can face because of stress, trauma, grief, life transitions, and other difficult situations. EMDR can improve your mood, ease depression and anxiety, help you rediscover hope, and flourish. 

Am I a candidate for EMDR?

During a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, the Spectrum Behavioral Health team discusses your symptoms, medical history, emotions, mood, lifestyle, thoughts, and behaviors to determine if EMDR or another therapy is right for you. They personalize a treatment plan that offers long-lasting results.

What happens during EMDR?

You meet with a licensed therapist at Spectrum Behavioral Health office or virtually from your home to complete EMDR psychotherapy. EMDR focuses on changing negative behaviors, emotions, and/or thoughts stemming from past trauma. This allows your brain to heal naturally.

EMDR helps you access memories of traumatic events in specific ways. When combined with eye movements, addressing such memories helps you reprocess things you remember to repair mental injuries.

After successful treatment, traumatic memories no longer make you feel like you’re reliving a stressful past.

How many EMDR treatments do I need?

EMDR typically consists of eight phases over several treatment sessions. It’s common to require 3-12 sessions, sometimes more, to treat a single disturbing memory. Each treatment session can last 60-90 minutes. You might undergo EMDR for several weeks or months.

Spectrum Behavioral Health also offers medication management to further reduce problematic symptoms.

Schedule an in-person or virtual EMDR evaluation at Spectrum Behavioral Health today by calling the office or using the online booking feature.