Cognitive Behavior Therapy
CBT is an evidence-based method of identifying how our thoughts impact our feelings and behaviors. People with anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions often have a common thinking patterns that seems to contribute to their symptoms. CBT can be used to help identify and correct negative thought patterns. CBT does require active participation in therapy sessions, practicing learned skills outside of sessions, and being willing to talk to a therapist about your problem.
EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
For many years treatment for trauma consisted of mainly Cognitive Behavioral Therapies. In 1989, Francine Sharpio developed a different approach for working with individuals who have experienced trauma known as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Theorists believe when a person experiences a trauma, everything associated with it becomes locked in their memory, including the smells, sounds, images, somatic sensations and beliefs. It is believed that the memories remain locked in the nervous system and the person is unable to adequately process them. This suggests that when a trauma occurs, pieces of the memory remain fragmented and might not be stored in the same region of the brain. In other words, trauma inhibits a person to evaluate, classify and contextualize the experience. It is suggested during the implementation of EMDR allows the client to adequately process the emotions surrounding the event This allows for the connection of the emotion and the event to take place. It is thought that using horizontal eye movements allows for the communication between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This creates a safe environment where the client can retrieve the traumatic event without the negative arousal. Eye moments help to change the client’s evaluation of the memory so they can better cope with it. EMDR can be used to treat recent and earlier traumas as well as phobias.