APEX Rehab
For patients who have been through some type of trauma, whether acute or long-term, APEX incorporates Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing or EMDR therapy into their treatment. EMDR has been proven to decrease stress related to addictions, depression, anxiety, PTSD and other traumas. Deeply embedded memories can be challenging to bring to the surface and talk about. Our team of licensed therapists are trained to help patients address these past issues in a safe, comfortable environment so they can move forward in healing.
EMDR can help patients resolve the traumatic experience. Trauma is at the core of many conditions, so it follows that if trauma is relieved, so is the resulting condition.
Traumatic experiences can have a truly debilitating effect on an individual’s life and cause them to have negative psychological and physical responses. Sometimes, the effects can be so powerful that they result in anxiety, depression, insomnia and self-destructive behaviors such as addictions.
People automatically want to repress memories of traumatic experiences. However, this is impossible and even if they do succeed in burying the experience deep into the subconscious, the effects will not disappear.
EMDR is a standardized set of procedures that combine eye movement, attention focus and visual, auditory or tactile stimulation. The procedures activate the disturbing experiences and lower the negative response through reprogramming with positive associations.
In a typical session, the therapist will ask the patient to follow an object with their eyes only and simultaneously recall the traumatic experience. Next, the patient will be asked to focus on a positive memory and then they will switch between the traumatic and the positive memories. The object that is followed can be substituted with some light or some auditory or tactile cue. The process is not as simple as it sounds and must be conducted by a qualified professional.
EMDR has demonstrated an enormous success in reducing the adverse emotional, mental and physical responses in individuals who have suffered a trauma. What is important is that results are achieved rather quickly, sometimes even immediately.
It isn’t clear just how this therapy does what is does, but the results are unarguably remarkable. One possibility is that the eye movement involved mimics the one in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep cycle. During REM sleep, our brain processes information and this cycle is also known to reduce anxiety. It seems that the information processing during REM and EMDR allows the individual to put things in a different perspective.
Alcohol and substance use disorders are highly individualized conditions. The qualified therapists at APEX Rehab apply EMDR together with a wide range of other therapies – pharmacotherapy, counseling, psychotherapy, holistic healing, nutritional counseling, fitness and recreation and alternative experiential therapies. Only a varied approach that is specifically tailored to the individual’s needs can work for a successful alcohol and drug rehabilitation in San Diego.
EMDR Therapy