Client Testimonials

"I had previously done over a year of talk therapy trying to get over early childhood experiences of abandonment.  For the first time, I am experiencing relief from these old memories, and a new freedom and growth in my life, thanks to EMDR sessions with Charles." 
PK- Denver

"I was suffering from frequent, severe panic attacks as a result of a series of traumatic events in my life.  With Charles's help, using EMDR, my panic attacks became less frequent and severe, and finally ceased. 
TJ - Wheat Ridge

Charles Wallace, LMFT, is a Level II trained EMDR practioner

What is EMDR?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a powerful form of therapy that can often help people desensitize difficult or troubling memories, such as trauma, abuse and neglect.  Often times we remain trapped in rigid patterns of attitude, behavior, and expectation, due to the "sticking power" of these troublesome memories and images. 

In EMDR therapy, we actually revisit these old memories, and lower the emotional disturbance associated with them (desensitization).  In the next stage, reprocessing, we begin to change our negative feelings, beliefs and expectations associated with these memories.  We move from feeling powerless to feeling we have choice and control, from feeling unsafe to feeling that we can protect ourselves, from feeling responsible and ashamed to feeling validated and affirmed.

What does an EMDR session look like?

The client begins by recalling a specific troublesome memory.  The therapist then has the client attend to some form of "bilateral stimulation" - either moving eyes side to side following the therapist's hand, or left and right audio headset sounds, or alternating gentle tapping on the client's hands.  As this bilateral stimulation occurs, memories often first increase in intensity, and then gradually decrease in intensity as multiple "sets" of alternating stimulation.  Typically over the course of a session, the emotional charge related to a memory will decrease in intensity. 

As the emotional reaction to the memory decreases (desensitization), the therapist helps the client to gain a sense of safety, power, and choice while continuing to experience the previously troublesome images.  Clients often report a great decrease in the power of troublesome memories, and often find a new freedom in life situations that previously triggered fear, shame, or anxiety.

EMDR can be helpful with:

* eating disorders                * panic attacks
* performance anxiety          * complicated grief
* stress reduction                * addictions
* disturbing memories           * sexual and/or physical abuse
* phobias                           * pain disorders

Does EMDR work?

All forms of therapy vary in their effectiveness based on the client's situation, motivation level, and the skill of the therapist.  However, many clients report that EMDR seems much faster and more effective than regular talk therapy.  The exact reasons this method is effective can only be speculated, but it appears to use the same natural techniques that we use in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.  The brain appears to naturally process, or "digest", the difficult memories that previously were stored as frozen, unchanging traumatic images.

Approximately 20 controlled studies have investigated the effects of EMDR. These studies have consistently found that EMDR effectively decreases/eliminates the symptoms of post traumatic stress for the majority of clients. Clients often report improvement in other associated symptoms such as anxiety. The current treatment guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies designate EMDR as an effective treatment
for post traumatic stress. EMDR was also found effective by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, the United Kingdom Department of Health, the Israeli National Council for Mental Health, and many other international health and governmental agencies. Research has also shown that EMDR can be an efficient and rapid treatment. (paragraph excerpted from EMDRIA brochure)