Tag Archive for: trauma

Is EMDR Right For Me?

This is a question I’ve been asked many times over the past several months. My answer is often a resounding “Yes!” due to the many applications for this intervention. If you’ve heard the buzz around EMDR and wonder if it’s right for you, here is some information you might consider for yourself and then discuss it with a therapist trained or certified in EMDR.

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a therapeutic intervention that allows people to heal from traumatic or disturbing life events. We all have neural pathways in our brains that help us make sense of the world around us. However, these pathways can become blocked after a traumatic experience. Using eye movements or other bilateral stimulation, EMDR helps reprocess the memories related to those events, thus removing the blocks in the neural pathways. Once the block is removed, the brain begins to heal from the traumatic event. Learn More...

Therapist offering counseling at Creative Family Counseling located in Louisville, KY

The Therapeutic Specialty of EMDR: What is it and how is it used?

While Creative Family Counseling offers many different Specialties for clients, depending on their interests and therapeutic needs, EMDR Therapy is a specialty that many people have questions about when first introduced to it.  For this reason, I sat down with my colleague, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Dawn Pendleton, who is Certified in EMDR. As a seasoned clinician with over 20 years in the field, Dawn has used numerous types of approaches to therapy, including EMDR.   She states that her goal is to facilitate healing for her clients in as short an amount of time as possible, which is why she’s so passionate about her use of EMDR.  In this interview, Dawn gave some background on this therapeutic tool, discussed how and why it is used, and suggested who might benefit from EMDR Therapy. Learn More...

It’s Okay to NOT be Okay

By Lisa Howard Cardwell, Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

I really hate that one meme that is taking over social media right now. You know the one, right? It shows a sign that says “You’re not stuck at home, you’re safe at home.” Another iteration of that meme is more to the point; it says “Stuck at home” with the word stuck crossed out and replaced with the word safe. It’s a great meme that sends an important reminder that we are safe and that staying at home protects us and those around us from COVID-19. It also reminds us to be grateful. These are positive reminders we can all use right now. So why do I hate this meme?  Learn More...

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

What You Need to Know about Trauma and an Option for Treatment – Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

What does “trauma-focused” mean and why should a Child Therapist have a trauma focus? 

Trauma is a word that gets tossed around a lot in our culture. Much like colloquial usage of words like crazy, bi-polar, and depression, people adapt words to alternative meanings. However, trauma is a real mental health issue with specific, and at the same time murky, definitions. The word trauma can be specific when it comes to the Diagnosis Statistical Manual’s (DSM-5) definition of trauma. This Manual is used by Therapists to determine if someone meets the criteria of a trauma-related mental health diagnosis. Trauma can at the same time be murky in definition because mental health professionals understand that trauma can take on many different facets depending on both the person and context impacted by the trauma.  Learn More...