EMDR Therapy for Trauma in Riverside, CA
Proudly Serving the Inland Empire (IE)
Specializing:
Attachment Struggles
Dissociation
Trauma (Sexual Abuse, Physical Abuse, Neglect)
Low Self Esteem & Shame
In-person Trauma Therapy in Riverside
EMDR Therapy has the ability to help you heal from anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Let our expert therapist help you move forward and create the life you deserve
Trauma and Therapy
Healing from trauma is possible.
Trauma and traumatic experiences are described as anything that overwhelms our nervous system and ability to cope. Traumatic experiences have the ability to impact our relationships and overall well being. Trauma can show up as flashbacks, distressing memories among other symptoms. Please know, there is evidenced based techniques designed to help address and reduce the negative effects of trauma.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: is a powerful therapy protocol developed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories (Shapiro, 1989a, 1989b). As a Certified EMDR therapist, I will guide you to think about a trauma while moving your eyes back and forth, left to right. Over time, this will help your brain reprocess the memories and with time reduce the impact of the distressing memories.
EMDR is an evidence based intervention used for
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
“Is the past still present? If so EMDR can help you move forward in your life.
Although we can never make the trauma go away, can learn to separate ourselves from it and in return, free ourselves from the suffering”.
Fabiola Pacheco, LCSW- EMDR Therapist
Trauma can have lasting effects on someone’s emotional wellbeing, sense of self and even impact our physical wellbeing.
Common Trauma Symptoms:Difficulty relating to others and struggles with our ability to trust.Distressing memories, images, or nightmares.Relationship struggles and self sabotaging behaviors due to attachment wounds.
Struggles with self-esteem and self worth.Difficulties expressing emotions or managing them.Self blame, depression and shame.Hyper-vigilance and difficulty managing stress response system.Easily reactive and emotional highs and lowsNightmares, distressing flashbacks, panic, anxiety.Unhealthy coping skills like heavy drinking, drug use and unhealthy relationships.
Impacts of Trauma on our Nervous System:
Grey Space Therapy Inc.
EMDR Certified Therapy in Riverside CA
Why Choose us?
Proven Results: Over 10 years of therapy experience. With EMDR our client’s experience relief from their symptoms faster than traditional therapy.
Safe & Supportive Environment: Finding a therapist you connect with and that you know will be able to help you through a difficult time is our top priority. We pride ourselves on being industry leaders with advance training and certification.
Break Free from Undisclosed Trauma: Often times clients come to us never having previously disclosed their trauma. We are here to help.
Healing: Together we will develop an individualized plan to help address impacts trauma has had on your current life and relationships
Get Answers: Through education we empower our clients to get answers about how their trauma has impacted their life and common trauma responses.
Develop Healthy Coping: Together we will help you learn health coping skills including mindfulness exercises, grounding skills and emotional regulation techniques.
Attachment Relationship Work: Complex trauma often has a direct correlation to attachment struggles. Together we will explore attachment wounds and what is holding you back.
Reduce distress and emotional/physical reaction: EMDR Therapy will help reduce distressing memories and trauma impacts.
“EMDR therapy helps us reduce the physical and emotional response that happens when we talk about our trauma”.
“EMDR therapy teaches our body that we are safe and it no longer needs to react to that past trauma”.
What is EMDR Therapy
How Does EMDR Work?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy works from an 8 phase approach framework. Each phase focuses on various aspects of the trauma healing. It is important to note each phase will vary depending on how client responds to treatment and the symptom severity.
Phase 1: History and Treatment Planning- The therapist will ask you questions about you and your history. During this time we will identify distressing memories, current struggles and develop a treatment plan on what we will work on.
Phase 2: Preparation-Developing resources/coping skills are key to trauma processing. During this phase we will go more in detail on the adaptive information process (AIP) model and how EMD therapy works. We will teach you imagery and stress reducing resources to help with processing.
Phase 3: Assessment also referred to as target selection. In this phase we will identify targets and listen them on your treatment plan. Once a target is selected we will begin to identify how the target is stored using various information points.
Phase 4: Desensitization focuses on using bilateral stimulation (eye movement, tappers) to process the traumatic event. This phase can take multiple sessions depending on the level of distress accompanied by the trauma.
Phase 5: Installation focuses on helping the client identify more adaptive responses to trauma so that the emotional response is reduced.
Phase 6: Body Scan is performed to assess body sensation and ensure trauma was processed.
Phase 7: Closure-Therapist focuses on helping client regulate by using a variety of self calming techniques.
Phase 8: Reevaluation- is done at the beginning of every session to determine progress and continue treatment plan.
What are the 8 phases of EMDR Therapy
EMDR Explained
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an evidence-based (meaning its been validated to be effective) form of psychotherapy that helps people heal from traumatic, distressing, or overwhelming life experiences. It is different than regular talk therapy because there is emphasis on the body where trauma can be stored.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an endorsed, first-line, evidence-based psychotherapy offered across many Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Sometimes difficult experiences from the past continue to affect how we think, feel, and respond in the present. You may notice this through anxiety, emotional triggers, negative beliefs about yourself, relationship patterns, or feeling stuck—even when you logically know that what happened is in the past. When we experience trauma, memories can become connected within maladaptive memory networks that hold not only what happened, but also the emotions, physical sensations, and negative beliefs we developed during the experience.
Common negative beliefs may sound like “I’m not lovable,” “I should have done something,” “I’m not safe,” or “Something is wrong with me.” Even years later, present-day experiences can activate these networks and bring back the same emotions, reactions, or beliefs.
EMDR helps you access and reprocess these memory networks in a safe and structured way with the support of your therapist. As the memory is reprocessed, new and more adaptive information can become connected to the experience. Beliefs such as “I’m not good enough” may begin to shift toward “I am enough ” or “Something is wrong with me” toward “I am worthy and enough.”
The goal isn't to erase what happened or convince yourself that the experience didn't matter. It's to help your brain recognize that the experience is in the past, allowing you to move forward with beliefs that better reflect who you are today.
You can remember the past without continuing to live in it.
The goal is not to forget your past—it’s to help your past have less power over your present.
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which suggests that the brain has a natural ability to process experiences and move toward healing.
Most everyday experiences are processed and integrated into our memory without us even realizing it. However, when an experience is highly stressful, overwhelming, or traumatic, the brain may have difficulty fully processing what happened. The memory can become “stuck,” along with the emotions, physical sensations, and negative beliefs connected to it.
This is why something that happened years ago can sometimes still feel very present today. This is where the past might still feel present.
EMDR helps the brain reprocess these distressing memories so they can be stored in a more adaptive way. The goal is not to erase the memory or make you forget what happened, but to reduce the emotional intensity attached to it—so you can remember the past without continuing to feel as though you are reliving it.
Ready To Start Therapy?