Common Queries

Have a question you’d like to ask? I’m committed to giving patients the best care and experience I can. There’s no such thing as a bad question when it comes to mental health. Check out the answers to the FAQs below, and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any additional questions.

What is EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an eight-phase psychotherapy approach that helps people recover from trauma without having to talk at length about the traumatic experience(s). It is the recommended PTSD therapy of the World Health Organization, and is used by the DOD and VA. EMDR is validated by over 80 scientific studies.

To begin, I will assess your readiness for addressing your trauma and move at a pace that works for you.  If you are not sure what event(s) have caused the PTSD symptoms, I can help you identify how your current symptoms are connected to past events and how they can be resolved. When you are ready to reprocess an event that is causing your PTSD, I will ask you important questions about the event including your thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and images. To start reprocessing, you will think about the event and follow movement with your eyes. The movements are called dual stimuli or bilateral stimulation. During the reprocessing you will notice what happens in your body, thoughts, and feelings without judging them or trying to change them. You just go with what comes up and briefly report changes to me between sets of movements. While at the beginning people rarely believe that how they feel can ever change, EMDR therapy does help people reprocess traumatic events so that they are no longer stored in that raw, vivid, state specific form. After reprocessing, we will link the traumatic event with an adaptive, positive belief such as “I did what I could,” or “I am safe now.”  

EMDR reprocessing takes a number of sessions and can be done either in person or remotely via telehealth.  At the end of each session I will help you return to a calm place and talk to you about how to “close” down the work until your next session. The number of sessions that someone might need with EMDR therapy depends on many factors such as: if there is only one incident or many incidents of trauma, how long ago the trauma(s) were, and how much support was received after the trauma.  If you are interested in finding out more, contact me to discuss.

How long is each therapy session?

For individual and couples therapy sessions, the standard duration is 50 minutes. This timeframe allows for focused and effective therapy while respecting your valuable time. However, for EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) sessions, I allocate 90 minutes to accommodate the specialized nature of this therapeutic approach. It's important to note that additional time may be available upon request and based on clinical need. I understand that some situations may require more extended sessions, and I am committed to ensuring that you receive the appropriate care. During our initial consultation, we can discuss your specific needs and determine the session length that would best support your therapeutic goals.

Do you offer sliding scale rates?