For Those Who Love to Journal
This is a short journaling exercise to help assemble a quick summary of where you are at now on a few simple pages authored by yourself. The main document is called "My LIife Story". The "My Life Story" has ideas and prompts to help guide you through the entire narrative journey. The outcome will provide a snapshot of your life reflecting where you are now. It is our hope that after we work together you will be able to literally reauthor your life as you want it to be in the future. Additional files are offered to help you learn the therapeutic language necessary to describe your past, present and future desires.
What is EMDR Therapy Again?
For this who are interested in EMDR, this short video will help explain what role EMDR therapy plays in therapy.
This is a Word file. Completing the My Life Story helps put what is happening in your life into words with structure in a meaningful and therapeutic way. It is a guided purposeful journey that asks you to reflect on specific aspects of your life of the past, present and future.
Do you think your life story today will be the same in the future?
A listing of negative core beliefs that are used to process past memories. These are used primarily with EMDR therapy but are useful for reflecting on thoughts in journals. Our goal in therapy is to replace negative core beliefs with positive core beliefs to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.
What would life be like for you if you did not carry the burden of negative beliefs?
This is a word file. Identical to the My Life Story but with an added section to facilitate EMDR work with trauma. Recommended for those who have had EMDR therapy in the past and wish to reflect deeply on what memory network to work with during an up-and-coming session.
If your trauma is severe we recommend that you do not work with this alone and work with a therapist.
Emotions are hard to describe and sometimes get confused with the feelings that they link to. Use this listing to help describe your emotions. Emotions can invoke thoughts and feelings and are often indistinguishably making them hard to describe. Emotions rarely travel alone and can antagonize you and make your body talk. Listen carefully to your body.
Explore where you feel it in your body. Feelings often trigger memories and emotions of the past that can create uncomfortable body sensations. Feelings can trigger thoughts memories and emotions that create disturbances in the body that are hard to describe. Use this body map to help locate your feelings.
EMDR & Pregnancy
"Here’s what I would love you to know about EMDR therapy during pregnancy: there is no evidence to support concerns that EMDR therapy during pregnancy is unsafe. Research now shows us that pregnant clients who receive EMDR therapy experience decreased distress and PTSD symptoms, decreased fears of childbirth, less intrusive thoughts, and overall increases in confidence about their upcoming delivery (Baas, et al., 2022; Baas, van Pampus, Braam, Stramrood, & de Jongh. 2020; Sandstrom, et al., 2008; Stramrood, van der Velde, Weijmar Schultz, & van Pampus, 2011; Stramrood, et al., 2012; Zolghadr, Khoshnazar, MoradiBaglooei, & Alimoradi, 2019). Reducing the mother’s fear of her upcoming childbirth while aiding her in symptom reduction and grounding skills increases the likelihood of her creating a secure and positive attachment with her baby. And as prenatal bonding increases, so does the postpartum attachment. This is particularly the case as we aid the client in processing and healing from her deep attachment wounds and as she builds adaptive attachment skills to now aid in her own ability to parent.
I have found, time and time again, this to be the case with my clients and have seen this to be true with my colleagues’ and consultees’ experiences as well."
Warrren, B. (2022). EMDR Therapy and Pregnancy. EMDRIA.org. https://www.emdria.org/specialty-areas/birth-trauma-and-pregnancy-loss/emdr-therapy-and-pregnancy/
Videos/Podcasts:
Evans, K. (Host). (2022, March 23). Episode 35: Can you do EMDR with a pregnant client? Clinical reasoning in the perinatal period with Dr. Mara Tesler Stein [Audio podcast episode]. In Zero Disturbance. https://www.zerodisturbance.com/podcasts/zero-disturbance/episodes/2147703777
Kaeni, K. (Host). (2018, July 9). Episode 107: EMDR for Perinatal Mental Health with Bethany Warren, LCSW [Audio podcast episode]. In Mom & Mind. https://momandmind.libsyn.com/107-emdr-for-perinatal-mental-health-with-bethany-warren-lcsw
Marich, J. (2021, March 1). EMDR & Pregnancy with Mara Tesler Stein (and Jamie Marich). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DIp35n6nB4&t=393s
