What is Complex Trauma and C-PTSD?by Talia Bina, MSEd, MPhil, MHC-LPComplex Trauma, sometimes called Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), develops from repeated or prolonged exposure to traumatic experiences, often beginning in childhood. Contrarily to PTSD, which is typically linked to a single traumatic event, Complex Trauma is usually the result of ongoing trauma such as abuse, neglect, domestic violence, or growing up in an unstable or unsafe environment. Over time, this repeated exposure can deeply affect a person’s sense of self, relationships, and ability to feel safe in the world. People with C-PTSD may struggle with emotional regulation, self-esteem, trust, and may experience intense feelings of shame, guilt, or worthlessness. The interesting thing about C-PTSD is that it is not actually recognized in the DSM-5 (the manual most clinicians use in the U.S. to diagnose individuals). However, it has been recognized by the World Health Organization since 2018 in the ICD-11 (the international classification of diseases).  What are the signs and symptoms of C-PTSD?The following list describes some of the signs and symptoms of C-PTSD. You may notice that some of the symptoms overlap with other medical and mental health conditions. Trauma and Memory
Emotional and Cognitive
Interpersonal
Physical
Behavioral
Hyperarousal
These patterns don’t just shape emotions—they ripple into the body, relationships, and daily life. Many people with Complex Trauma continue to navigate the world in survival mode, long after the original trauma has ended. Since C-PTSD affects multiple areas of functioning—emotional regulation, cognition, relationships, and behavior—people often experience symptoms that overlap with other mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety disorders, ADHD-like symptoms, dissociation, substance use, and/or eating disorders. They may not meet the full criteria for these individual diagnoses but still exhibit aspects of them as a direct result of trauma. In the U.S., clinicians may note co-occurring diagnoses because C-PTSD itself is not officially recognized in the DSM-5. Recognizing these overlapping patterns helps capture the full impact of trauma and guide effective treatment. For example, an individual with Complex Trauma might experience OCD-like symptoms such as intrusive thoughts or rumination, ADHD-like symptoms like distractibility, difficulty focusing, or impulsivity, eating-related issues such as emotional eating, and mood or anxiety symptoms including persistent worry, panic, low mood, or irritability. In some cases, these experiences may not meet the full criteria for separate diagnoses, reflecting trauma-related patterns rather than distinct disorders. In other cases, an individual may meet the full criteria for one or more co-occurring conditions, meaning that the trauma has contributed to clinically significant impairments that warrant a formal diagnosis and targeted treatment.  What are the most common co-occurring disorders with C-PTSD?Mood DisordersDepression and persistent low mood are very common, as trauma erodes self-worth and hope. Emotional ups and downs may resemble bipolar traits, though often tied more to trauma reactivity than a mood disorder itself. Anxiety and OCDChronic worry, panic attacks, or obsessive thinking can grow out of trauma. Some survivors develop compulsive behaviors (like checking or rituals) as attempts to create a sense of safety or control. ADHD-Like SymptomsTrauma can affect attention, memory, and impulse control, leading to distractibility or difficulties with focus that may look like ADHD. Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs)Hair pulling, skin picking, or nail biting may develop as tension-release or self-soothing strategies. Dissociative SymptomsMany people with C-PTSD experience spacing out, feeling detached from their body, or memory gaps. In severe cases, this can overlap with dissociative disorders. Substance Use DisordersAlcohol or drugs may be used to numb pain, reduce hyperarousal, or escape intrusive memories Eating DisordersRestrictive eating, bingeing, or purging can emerge from shame, trauma-related body image issues, or attempts to regain a sense of control over the body. Moving Forward: Healing from Complex TraumaHealing from Complex Trauma is possible, though it often takes time and support. Effective treatment usually involves a combination of approaches that address emotional regulation, trauma processing, and rebuilding trust and safety: Therapy for C-PTSDTreatment for Complex Trauma often involves a combination of approaches. Behavioral therapies focus on managing symptoms, building coping skills, and regulating emotions. Insight-oriented or psychodynamic therapies explore childhood experiences, relational patterns, and the underlying causes of trauma. Body-based therapies help process trauma stored in physical sensations, while psychoeducation provides understanding of how trauma affects the mind and body. Medication for C-PTSDMay be used to manage symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or sleep difficulties, under the guidance of a psychiatrist. Support Groups for C-PTSDPeer support can reduce isolation and provide validation for experiences. You can search for local C-PTSD If you or someone you know is living with trauma, reaching out to a licensed mental health professional can be an important first step toward recovery and regaining a sense of safety and self.  What are some resources to help with C-PTSD?Books that Address C-PTSD
Organizations & Websites Focused on C-PTSD
About the AuthorTalia Bina, MSEd, MPhil, MHC-LP, is a clinician at Healing & Growth Counseling, providing in-person counseling services in Massapequa Park. Working with clients with complex trauma is a specialty focus area in her practice. Her understanding of the complexities that occur for people who have struggled with complex trauma histories helps her to provide individualized treatment to those that she works with. She takes the opportunity to link clients with resources, such as those listed above, to help support the work being done in therapy. Interested in learning more about Talia? See her Bio Page here.
Interested in scheduling an appointment with Talia? Complete our Contact Form here. What is the Butterfly Hug Method?by Cindy Zabinski, LMHC, LCMHC, CRC, ACSWhat is a butterfly hug and how can it help? You may have heard the butterfly hug mentioned by a therapist or by a friend or family member who has done EMDR therapy. It is an easy and effective tool for managing stress and anxiety. In this blog article we will explore how to do the butterfly hug and how it works as a powerful tool in promoting mental and emotional health. How to do the Butterfly HugTo do a Butterfly Hug, first cross your arms over your chest, placing your fingertips gently on your collarbone or upper arms. It is similar to giving yourself a hug, and the criss-cross of your arms creates the look of a butterfly (look in a mirror the first time you do this if you think it would be helpful to see the visual). Tap your fingers gently on your collarbone or upper arms, alternating between left and right, at a relaxed rhythm (you are not being tested on keeping a beat, so there is no need to be exact!). Focus on slow and deep breaths while you tap. If your attention begins to wander, bring your awareness back to your breath and the feeling of your hands gently tapping. That's it!  Why does the Butterfly Hug work?How is it that such a simple exercise can be so impactful? Let's explore some of the ways in which it works. Impact on the Nervous SystemThe Butterfly Hug has a calming impact on the nervous system. As you practice this tool, you may notice an increased feeling of calmness and slowing of racing thoughts and feeling of overwhelm. The parasympathetic nervous system is activated by engaging in the Butterfly Hug, which is the part of the autonomic system that is responsible for promoting relaxation. Nicknamed the "rest and digest" system, it is the system that helps the body to recover from stress and danger. It impacts many bodily systems that you don't often actively think about, such as heart rate, blood pressure, urination, digestion, and sweating, amongst others. We often see these things impacted negatively by stress and anxiety, so by specifically engaging the parasympathetic nervous system we are able to regulate these aspects to either prevent or treat stress and anxiety in our daily lives. Self-SoothingThe Butterfly Hug helps to self-soothe and ground oneself. This helps with emotional regulation and managing intense feelings. This comes from the way in which the Butterfly Hug brings you back to the present moment. By tapping on your upper arms or collarbones and focusing on this as well as your breath, you are using your senses to bring your attention to the present moment. Many unwanted mental health symptoms, such as increased worry about the future or feeling like our head is stuck in the past, can be alleviated in the moment by bringing our attention to the present moment. The act of doing this helps to slow racing thoughts and increase our connection the the world around us or our connection with ourself.  When is it Helpful to Use the Butterfly Hug?The Butterly Hug is great as a standalone tool that is very portable. Consider this - you always have your arms and your breath with you, right? No fancy apps or additional items to carry. It is a great coping skill that can be used when you are feeling stressed, panicked, or anxious. It can be used as a tool when you feel like you are struggling, or one that you implement every so often throughout your day to prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed. By trying it out in different situations, you can find out when the tool is most effective. The Butterfly Hug is also used as a tool during EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) therapy, as a form of bilateral stimulation. Incorporating this into EMDR therapy assists with keeping a person grounded and present while healing from their past trauma. It also assists with the brain emotionally processing the trauma that is being worked on. (For more information about EMDR, see past blog posts including What is EMDR and How Does it Work? and How to get the Most out of EMDR Therapy.  I hope that this blog post provides you with a tool that you can take with you into your life to decrease feelings of stress and anxiety. Of course, it is not a replacement for therapy, so if you find that this tool is not sufficient to keep you grounded and present in your life (amongst other tools you may already have), seek the help of a therapist or mental health clinician that can help. About the AuthorCindy Zabinski, LMHC, LCMHC, CRC, ACS is the founder and owner of Healing & Growth Counseling. As an EMDR Certified Therapist and EMDRIA Approved Consultant, Cindy primarily focuses on EMDR in her practice with clients. She teaches the Butterfly Hug to almost all clients that she works with as a tool for grounding, self-soothing, and for emotional regulation. For EMDR clients it is a tool that is taught as preparation for EMDR work and often used for bilateral stimulation during EMDR reprocessing. She loves the Butterfly Hug as a tool that can be taken anywhere and utilized to help decrease stress and anxiety, both inside and outside of the therapy room. Interested in learning more about Cindy and her work? Check out her bio here. Interested in scheduling an appointment with one of Healing & Growth Counseling's clinicians, to learn tools such as the Butterfly Hug and to learn how to decrease stress and anxiety in your life? Call us at (516) 406-8991 or fill out our Contact Form here.
How to Get the Most from EMDR Therapyby Cindy Zabinski, LMHC, LCMHC, CRC, ACS, EMDRIA Certified Therapist & Approved Consultant Our practice receives many calls from people interested in EMDR therapy, and most have not tried EMDR before. They call with many questions, including: “How does it work?”, “How many sessions will it take?”, and “How do I know if it is going to help me?". Many people are interested in jumping in with both feet and want to heal from their trauma as quickly as possible. While it is difficult to predict how long EMDR therapy will take, as everyone's process is different, there are some steps that can assist with entering EMDR therapy as efficiently as possible. The second phase of EMDR, Preparation, involves a number of tasks, including rapport building, grounding tools, and stabilization. (For more details about the 8 Phases of EMDR, see our previous Blog Post, "What is EMDR and How Does it Work?") There are ways to begin working on this prior to beginning EMDR therapy, if they feel safe and comfortable enough for you. They can also be worked on with the help of a talk therapist, should you already be working with one. I write this post with the hope that it provides some assistance to people who are interested in starting EMDR therapy and want to get the most out of it. Many of the below topics can help to move more quickly through the preparation process. Although I cannot predict the number of EMDR sessions it will take for someone to heal from their trauma, I do believe that attending to the following items will help to accelerate the process!  How to Find an EMDR TherapistFirst, focus on finding a therapist who was properly trained in EMDR by an EMDRIA (EMDR International Association) approved provider. A therapist who is EMDRIA Certified has gone through thorough training and consultation to be able to practice EMDR effectively. Feel free to ask the therapist what kind of training they completed and whether they are certified by EMDRIA. To assist in locating an EMDRIA trained provider, you can use the EMDRIA Find a Therapist tool: https://www.emdria.org/find-an-emdr-therapist/ EMDR is covered by health insurance similarly to other therapy services. You can ask the provider if they are in-network with your health insurance or how they can work with you to use out-of-network benefits. EMDR can also be covered by automobile no-fault insurance if the trauma that occurred was related to an automobile accident as long as mental health benefits are included in your claim. As with the process of therapy in general, make sure that you feel comfortable enough and safe enough with the therapist you have chosen. If their style or demeanor is off-putting to you, it could interfere with your therapy experience and interfere with your work. Although EMDR does not require you to share every detail of your past traumas to the therapist, it is important to feel that you can be honest and open with the clinician. Make sure that the therapist you have chosen offers therapy in the style that you are interested in, in person in an office or online. EMDR can be effective by either method, so it is up to the client which they prefer and which is accessible to them. There are some providers who offer EMDR Intensives, which can include longer EMDR sessions over the course of several days. Understand your Role as ObserverEMDR is focused on assisting your brain in engaging in the natural healing process that it is designed to do. Rather than trying to force cognitive reframes or challenge thoughts, in EMDR Therapy we allow the healing process to occur by supporting it. Because of this, the client is meant to observe, without judgment, what is coming up for them. This can include some of the following: thoughts (such as idea about yourself or the world), images (memories of the event or another event), feelings (surges of emotions), and body sensations (physical perception). When explaining this role of observer to clients, I often use the analogy of riding on a train and watching the scenery pass by. Sometimes the train travels quickly and the images seem to fly by, and at other times the train slows down and more time is allowed for noticing what is coming up. Rather than overthinking the speed of the train, the client notices what passes by without judgment. One of the most common questions I hear from clients at the end of the first few sessions of EMDR is “Am I doing it right?”. There is no right or wrong way as a client to do EMDR. Everything that comes up is part of the process. Having trust in the clinician, as discussed above, will allow them to guide you as needed through the EMDR process.  Allowing VulnerabilityAn essential part of EMDR is allowing oneself to be vulnerable in exploring and processing emotions. It requires vulnerability with yourself, in allowing emotions to ebb and flow throughout the session, and the therapist, to allow yourself to process in their presence. Vulnerability can be really difficult for trauma survivors, especially those who have compartmentalized their trauma and feelings for years in order to function. Here are some suggestions for exercises that can help you to explore vulnerability: 3 Ways to Increase VulnerabilityKeep an Emotion Log Check in with yourself non-judgmentally periodically throughout the day and ask yourself how you are feeling. As you build on this skill and are able to readily identify your emotions, ask yourself where you feel that emotion in your body. You can keep a log/journal of this to reflect back on and build this into a regular practice. Learn More about Vulnerability Brené Brown has an excellent TedTalk "The Power of Vulnerability", which can help you to expand your knowledge about vulnerability and give reason to embrace it. Check out the video linked here. Connect in a Vulnerable Way If you have a person in your life who you feel safe and comfortable enough with, practice increasing your vulnerability with them. Share with them a feeling you had that day. It doesn't have to be painful emotions or related to your trauma. It can be about your happiness that someone at work was nice to you today. Notice the response that you get from them. Positive reinforcement of vulnerability occurs when we receive validation and empathy from those that we share ourselves with. Build Grounding SkillsSince the main focus of EMDR is to reprocess traumatic memories, it is likely to bring up many feelings along the way. Grounding skills are very helpful when you may feel that your feelings are overwhelming or unsafe. Between sessions, should thoughts of your EMDR work pop up in your head, you can use your grounding skills to return your focus on the present moment. Here are some of my favorites: Use your Senses Focus on one of your 5 senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste) and place all of your attention there. There is no need to describe or judge what you are experiencing - just experience it. This can work especially well when you have something that you enjoy, like the taste of a fresh cup of coffee or the smell of a flower. Focus on your Feet Your feet connected to the ground beneath you is as present-moment as you can get. Notice the connection of your feet to the ground. Notice the way in which the ground holds your feet up. This tool can be used anytime that the ground is accessible to your feet, whether you are wearing sneakers at the gym, barefoot at the beach, or wearing dress shoes at the office. Safe and Calm Enough Place Bring up an image of a place that feels safe and calm enough for you. Perhaps it is a place you have been before, or it is a place you think of but have never traveled. Notice everything about it - what you see, smell, taste, feel, and hear. Notice how you feel as you think of this place. Notice how you feel in your body as you think of this place. Breathing Exercises There are many excellent breathing exercises that are taught in therapy. One of my go-to’s is to count the breath as you breathe in deeply through your nose (think: “In 1”) and out through your mouth (think: “Out 1”). Repeat this up to a number of your choosing, or until you feel grounded! Create a Container EMDR does not require homework between sessions (yay!). However, sometimes thoughts of EMDR work pop up between sessions due to a reminder that can come up in your daily life. Having a theoretical container in your mind to store all of your EMDR work gives you a tool to help you between sessions should a thought or feeling related to your EMDR work come to mind between sessions. Practice visualizing your container, designing it however you wish, and feel free to add as many security measures as you would like to keep it closed.  Remember, the above items are not mandatory to complete before starting to work with an EMDR therapist. Your EMDR therapist will likely review all of the above with you as you start working together. EMDR is an amazing therapy to engage in. It is different from other therapies, and for that reason can be challenging to begin. I hope that these items may help you to prepare and feel more comfortable with EMDR as you embark on your journey. About the AuthorCindy Zabinski, LMHC, LCMHC, CRC, ACS, EMDRIA Approved Consultant is the founder and owner of Healing & Growth Counseling. She found her practice as a mental health counselor to evolve and change in amazing ways upon becoming trained in EMDR. Finding that many of our current day struggles stem from painful and traumatic experiences in our past, she believes that healing from them using EMDR can help to move forward in our present-day goals. Cindy is a Board member of the EMDR Long Island Network, a non-profit focused on furthering the presence of and availability of high-quality EMDR services on Long Island, as well as supporting EMDR clinicians in their work. Interested in learning more about the EMDR services at Healing & Growth Counseling? Check out our EMDR Therapy service page here. Interested in learning more about Cindy? Check out her bio here. Interested in scheduling an appointment for EMDR Therapy in New York? Call us at (516) 406-8991 or fill out our contact form here.
by Cindy Zabinski, LMHC, CRC, ACS, EMDRIA Approved ConsultantEMDR has received a great deal of recognition in the world of pop culture and social media, with celebrities endorsing it’s effectiveness and the way it has helped them make positive changes in their life. The way that it is often portrayed in movies and television shows do not show much more than the concept that eyes move back and forth in the process. When many new clients call regarding EMDR, they are unsure as to what the process will be like. Here, I will try to share more detail about the background of EMDR and the phases that occur when doing EMDR with an EMDR clinician. Part 1 - What is EMDR?EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy) was developed by Francine Shapiro in the 1990s. She began to develop the idea for EMDR on a walk one day outside in a park. She recognized, as she was walking, that the process of a walk helped immensely in clearing her head and helping her to think more clearly about her response to a current life concern. She noticed the bilateral movements that occurred in her body as she stepped left-right-left-right and looked from side to side at the nature around her. From this, she began to develop EMDR. EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. The model goes like this: our brain is built and designed to naturally work towards resolution and healing. However, when there are past experiences that have negatively impacted this process (often classified as “Traumas” or “traumas”), that impacts the healing process of experiences moving forward. Here is an illustration: Have you ever, with 20/20 eyesight, tried on the glasses of a friend that has a strong prescription? Think of how clearly you see before putting on their glasses - this is the way in which our brain naturally heals and grows through experiences. When an experience negatively impacts this process, it is like putting on that friend’s glasses. Then, moving forward, we see the world and our experiences (and often ourself) in this distorted way. The process of EMDR is meant to help one to take off that distorted lens, so that the brain can resume the natural healing process that is meant to occur. I wish I could say that we are able to throw away those painful glasses and fully forget painful memories, but that is not entirely true. A person who has successfully gone through EMDR still remembers the past event, however it does not impact them in the same way emotionally. They may no longer recall details of the event or the event may appear “blurry” compared to prior to treatment. EMDR focuses on a three-pronged approach, meaning that the clinician and client will first focus on reprocessing past events, going back to the “touchstone event”, the event that started the distorted lens in the first place. The client and clinician will then move into processing present-day experiences that have been impacted by the negative lens, and finally focus on future use of the new healthy lens that has been developed. EMDR is considered “evidence-based” for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This means that, through many years and funding of research, the medical community has seen the positive and significant impact that it has for those diagnosed with PTSD. There has also been much research done for those who have struggled with negative/difficult/traumatic experiences and may have a different diagnosis or concern (for example, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, grief, substance use, eating disorders, performance anxiety). Part 2 - What are the Steps of EMDR?EMDR consists of 8 phases. One of the common misconceptions that I hear from new clients is that EMDR is 8 sessions long since there are 8 phases. This is not true. As an EMDR therapist, I often address more than one phase in each session and each phase may take more than one session to complete. The client’s comfort level is a big part of the decision making process regarding when a new phase is entered. Here I will discuss each of the phases to provide further clarity about the process: Phase I - History Gathering The first phase of EMDR is much like that of traditional psychotherapy/talk therapy. The clinician will work with you to gather information about your current concerns and history. The clinician may focus on creating a timeline of events, both positive and negative, that have occurred throughout your life. They may also ask about relationships with others throughout the course of your life. They will do this at a pace that feels comfortable and safe enough for you. During this phase, rapport is also focused on. It is important, before engaging in working through painful memories, to feel comfortable and safe enough with your clinician. Phase II - Preparation The second phase of EMDR is focused on preparing for the reprocessing of traumatic memories. Each client will spend a different amount of time in this phase, depending on their specific situation. The clinician, during this phase, will help you to build the tools needed to tolerate the movement of work that occurs during EMDR reprocessing. Stabilization may be focused on, if needed, to make sure that you remain feeling safe throughout the process. Coping and grounding skills will be taught and practiced. Bilateral stimulation will be explored and utilized starting in this phase. Bilateral stimulation can occur in the original method of eye movements, in which your clinician will assist you in moving your eyes back and forth using their hand, a light bar, or a tool via telehealth on your computer screen. It can also occur in a tactile manner, which can be by buzzers that are held in each hand, your clinician tapping on your knees, or self-tapping that will be taught by your clinician. A third method includes auditory bilateral stimulation, which would include wearing headphones in which music or beeps are played alternating in each ear. The preparation phase allows you and your clinician to create a “game plan” for the work moving forward. Spending some time doing this can help to expedite the work done in upcoming phases. It can help to prevent confusion and promote further feeling like you and your therapist are on a team together working on this. Phase III - Target Assessment In the third phase of EMDR, the clinician will work with the client to identify the events and experiences that are likely impacting the present-day concerns, or that have formed the negative “lens” through which the client currently views the world. It may be difficult to choose one event. The clinician will most likely use the history gathering phase as a tool to assist with choosing an initial target. In considering EMDR as a “bottom-up approach”, the goal is to find the “touchstone event” or earliest event that caused the start of the negative belief that exists today, to reprocess in Phase IV. For some clients, it is ideal to start with this event as the target assessment. For others, if starting with that memory feels overwhelming, other targets may be a better option to begin the process of EMDR. Your clinician will guide you through a Target Assessment by asking you several questions to depict the memory, the negative belief that it brings up for you, the feelings it brings up within you, and the positive or neutral goal belief you would prefer to believe. This Target Assessment will be used by you and your therapist as you enter Phase IV. Phase IV - Reprocessing The fourth phase of EMDR is the phase that is typically represented in movies and on TV. In this phase, there is often silence between the client and clinician, as silent reprocessing of the event is done while the clinician assists with bilateral stimulation. During this phase, the clinician will assist the client in bringing up the target that was outlined in the target assessment. They will then allow the client’s brain to work towards healing silently as they lead the client in bilateral stimulation. The clinician will pause bilateral stimulation periodically to check in with the client. The purpose of this check-in is to make sure that the process is moving forward and that the client is safe and present. In EMDR, we never want the client to feel as if they are back in the past experiencing their memory. We want to make sure that they are in the present looking at the memory, as if it is a movie playing on a screen in front of them, with the ability to press pause and play as needed. Reprocessing can occur at different paces. The theory behind this phase is that the clinician is meant to stay “out of the way” to allow the brain to utilize the preparation and present-day knowledge that the client has to “digest” the memory in a different, healthier way. Sometimes, reprocessing occurs quickly, with the client noticing images, thoughts, feelings, and body sensations occurring at fast rates. Other times, it can slow down or even feel like it is on a loop. The clinician is there to assist in those moments with a variety of tools. One of the most common questions I am asked by clients during their first session of Phase IV is “Am I doing it right?”. It is important to keep in mind that the process of healing is different for everyone. By allowing thoughts, feelings, and body sensations to flow and come up as they do, the process is occurring. Phase V - Installation The fifth phase of EMDR occurs after reprocessing of a target image is complete. Likely, the negative belief that was identified in the target assessment no longer feels connected to that image, however a neutral or positive belief will feel true. The clinician will assist the client in installing this positive belief using bilateral stimulation. If you are reading this blog prior to experiencing EMDR, you may think that the second sentence of the previous paragraph is crazy or impossible. Many clients have laughed at me when I explain this phase prior to them completing Phase IV for a target image. If you don’t believe it, I am not going to try to convince you here. Give it a try, and then get back to me ;-) Phase VI - Body Scan The sixth phase of EMDR occurs after reprocessing of a target is done and installation of a more neutral or positive rational belief is installed. Because our emotions are held within the body, the process of scanning the body is necessary to see if there is any leftover “stuff” that did not come up or out in Phase IV or V. Sometimes our feelings occur as body sensations, such as a jabbing pain in your side or a slight throbbing in your leg. Rather than leave these feelings unrecognized and unprocessed, the clinician will assist, using bilateral stimulation, to work through these feelings as body sensations. Once the body scan is complete, Phase VII can occur. Phase VII - Closure The seventh phase of EMDR occurs either: A) after Phase VI is complete, otherwise known as a complete session; or B) at the end of session time before Phase VI is complete, otherwise known as an incomplete session. The clinician will check in with you to see how you are feeling, and assist you in using your grounding skills to be fully present in the room prior to ending the session. Sometimes, especially in the case of incomplete sessions, the clinician will help you to “leave the work at the office” through use of a Container Exercise. Phase VIII - Re-Evaluation The final phase of EMDR occurs at the session following a complete session. In this Phase, the clinician will bring up the target image that was worked on to check in regarding feelings and the positive/neutral belief that was installed in Phase V. If it is seen that there remains something to work through, then Phase IV will be re-entered in session. If not, then the target is considered complete and the clinician and client will move forward in their work, such as choosing a new target to work through. EMDR is a powerful and effective therapy. I hope that the above information is helpful in answering your questions about EMDR and it's process. I fear that some people may avoid trying EMDR because it is different from traditional therapy. My goal is to provide insight that may help others decide if further exploring EMDR is right for them! Read more about EMDR as one of the services provided at Healing & Growth Counseling by clicking here. AuthorCindy Zabinski, LMHC, CRC, ACS, is an EMDRIA Certified Therapist and an EMDRIA Approved Consultant. Upon being trained in EMDR in 2016 she fell in love with EMDR as a treatment modality, finding that it helps clients to overcome past traumas and change negative self beliefs quickly and effectively. She was Certified in EMDR in July 2017 and focuses her clinical practice on using EMDR to help people overcome past trauma and find peace in their present. She focuses as an EMDRIA Approved Consultant in helping trained clinicians become proficient in using EMDR with their clients. Cindy is the owner and founder of Healing & Growth Counseling, a group practice that focuses on providing trauma-informed counseling to clients across the state of New York, both in person and online. Read more about Cindy here.
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Healing & Growth Counseling
4770 Sunrise Highway, Suite 102
Massapequa Park, NY 11762
(516) 406-8991
4770 Sunrise Highway, Suite 102
Massapequa Park, NY 11762
(516) 406-8991