Understanding trauma

There are many diffrent forms of trauma that can impact our lives. When thinking of trauma most of us imagine a "single incident", such as a tragic accident, significant life event, or natural disaster. But it's far more commom for clients to present with prolonged trauma, which can include physical/emotional/psychological abuse, neglect, on-going domestic violence etc. Regardless of the experience, trauma memories can get "locked in the brain", where they can continue to affect an individuals life long after the event in the form of intrusions, negative thoughts and emotions, decreased self-esteem etc. The purpose of EMDR is to "unlock" target memories associated with trauma to help the brain recover from the impacts of past events and come back into the present.