At Revive Intimacy Counseling, I provide specialized EMDR therapy in Austin to help individuals and couples heal from trauma and overcome anxiety. My evidence-based approach addresses how disturbing life experiences impact mental health, relationships, and overall well-being.
Serving clients throughout Austin, Lakeway, Westlake, and Bee Cave, TX.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy is a powerful approach for treating trauma and anxiety disorders. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR therapy utilizes bilateral stimulation—typically through guided eye movements—to help the brain process traumatic memories, transforming them into less emotionally charged experiences.
During EMDR therapy, I guide you through a structured eight-phase process that includes:
This systematic process activates your nervous system’s natural healing mechanisms, allowing for reprocessing of traumatic experiences that may have been resistant to talk therapy alone.
EMDR therapy works by engaging the brain’s information processing system. When traumatic experiences occur, they can become “frozen” in the nervous system with their original images, thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. Eye movements similar to those in REM sleep, combined with other forms of bilateral stimulation, help the brain process these disturbing memories.
Research in interpersonal neurobiology suggests that EMDR therapy helps integrate fragmented traumatic memories, create new neural connections, and promote adaptive information processing. These neurobiological changes help transform disturbing memories into less emotionally charged experiences, providing relief from PTSD, anxiety, and other trauma-related disorders.
As an Austin EMDR therapist, I help clients process and heal from various traumatic experiences:
Unprocessed traumatic memories can contribute to numerous mental health challenges. EMDR therapy helps transform these old wounds, reducing their emotional charge and negative impact on your life.
Many people don’t realize their current difficulties stem from past traumatic experiences. Signs that trauma may be affecting your mental health include intrusive memories, avoidance behaviors, heightened anxiety, sleep disturbances, emotional numbness, relationship difficulties, unexplained physical symptoms or chronic pain, and easily triggered emotional responses with ongoing distress.
EMDR therapy addresses these symptoms by processing the underlying traumatic memories driving them.
EMDR therapy has shown remarkable effectiveness in treating various forms of anxiety, including:
As your EMDR therapist, I help you identify and process the past events contributing to your anxiety, while developing more adaptive beliefs and coping strategies.
One of the most significant benefits of EMDR therapy is the relatively rapid relief it can provide from panic attacks and anxiety symptoms. Many clients report noticeable reductions in anxiety after just a few sessions, with research showing approximately 75% of individuals experiencing significant improvement within 3-6 sessions.
Clients struggling with panic attacks often find that EMDR therapy reduces both the frequency and intensity of attacks, sometimes eliminating them entirely by addressing the root memories driving anxiety rather than just managing symptoms.
EMDR therapy can effectively address depression, particularly when it stems from negative life experiences or traumatic events. By targeting the memories and negative beliefs that contribute to depressive symptoms, EMDR therapy helps clients process experiences that reinforce negative self-perception and build resilience against future depressive episodes.
Eating disorders often have roots in traumatic experiences and negative body image. EMDR therapy can be an effective component of comprehensive eating disorder treatment by processing traumatic memories contributing to disordered eating, addressing body image distortions, and reducing anxiety around food and eating situations.
Dissociative disorders often develop as protective responses to overwhelming traumatic experiences. EMDR therapy, with appropriate modifications, can help clients with dissociative disorders safely process traumatic memories and develop greater integration between dissociated parts of self.
EMDR can be a powerful component of couples therapy when relationship difficulties are influenced by past trauma. My approach integrates EMDR with couples work to help partners understand how each person’s past experiences affect current relationship patterns, process traumatic relationship events, and heal attachment wounds that create relationship insecurity.
EMDR therapy can help young adults (18-30) process traumatic experiences from childhood or adolescence, address anxiety related to life transitions, build healthier relationship patterns, and navigate career and educational stressors. I create a safe space for young adults to explore their challenges and build resilience.
Parents struggling with triggers in their parenting often benefit from a combination of EMDR therapy and parent coaching. This integrated approach helps process parents’ own childhood experiences that affect parenting, reduce reactive responses to challenging child behaviors, and develop greater emotional regulation during parenting stress.
Your EMDR therapy journey begins with a comprehensive consultation where I explore your history, determine if EMDR is appropriate for your specific situation, and develop a preliminary treatment plan. I ensure new clients feel comfortable and informed about what to expect from EMDR treatment.
Before beginning memory processing, I ensure you have the emotional regulation skills needed for successful EMDR treatment, including grounding techniques, “safe space” visualization, and the ability to tolerate difficult emotions. This preparation phase is crucial for safe and effective trauma processing, especially for complex trauma or clients with dissociative tendencies.
During the core phase of EMDR therapy, I help you process disturbing memories using bilateral stimulation. I guide lateral eye movements or use other forms of bilateral stimulation while you focus on traumatic memories, allowing your brain to reprocess these experiences. Through this process, traumatic memories become less distressing, negative beliefs transform, and new insights emerge naturally.
As traumatic memories lose their emotional charge, I help you apply new insights to current situations, practice new behavioral patterns, and strengthen positive self-beliefs. Many clients report not just symptom reduction, but significant post-traumatic growth including improved relationships, greater resilience, and a deeper appreciation for life.
For clients unable to attend in-person sessions, I offer virtual EMDR therapy using secure telehealth platforms. These sessions maintain the same structured protocol as in-person treatment while offering greater accessibility and convenience. I ensure that virtual EMDR sessions maintain the safety and effectiveness of traditional in-person therapy.
As a certified EMDR therapist, I have completed comprehensive training and certification through EMDRIA (EMDR International Association), ensuring the highest standard of care. My expertise includes advanced training in complex trauma treatment, specialized approaches for anxiety disorders and panic attacks, and integration of EMDR with couples therapy.
I recognize that every person’s experience of trauma is unique. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, I tailor EMDR protocols to your specific needs, integrate complementary techniques when beneficial, and adjust pacing based on your processing capacity. I provide services designed for your unique situation and treatment goals.
Trauma work requires a foundation of safety and trust. I create a safe space where you can process difficult memories without judgment, move at your own pace through treatment, and feel respected throughout the process. This supportive atmosphere allows for deeper healing and more sustainable results.
Adults who experienced trauma during childhood often carry these wounds into their adult lives. EMDR therapy is particularly effective for processing childhood trauma, helping adults reprocess early traumatic experiences that shape current patterns, develop healthier attachment styles, and transform limiting beliefs formed in childhood.
Many individuals with substance use issues have underlying trauma. I work with individuals in recovery to process traumatic experiences that drive substance use, address trauma that occurred during active addiction, and build healthier coping mechanisms.
Adolescents experiencing trauma benefit from age-appropriate EMDR therapy. My approach for adolescents (14-17) includes modified protocols suited to developmental stage, engagement techniques that respect adolescent autonomy, and focus on building identity and resilience.
The number of sessions varies based on the nature and extent of traumatic experiences, your treatment goals, and whether you’re addressing single or multiple traumas. Simple traumas may resolve in 3-5 sessions of processing, while complex trauma typically requires longer treatment.
EMDR involves activating disturbing memories, which can temporarily increase distress. However, you remain aware of being in the present moment, I teach coping skills before beginning processing, and the distress typically diminishes rapidly during sessions. Most clients find the temporary discomfort well worth the relief that follows.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR focuses on processing memories rather than just discussing them, uses bilateral stimulation to facilitate neural processing, often produces more rapid results for trauma and anxiety, and works directly with the body’s natural healing systems.
Research consistently shows EMDR therapy is one of the most effective treatments for PTSD, with success rates comparable to or exceeding other trauma-focused therapies. EMDR is recognized as an evidence-based treatment by major health organizations worldwide.
