IFS Informed EMDR in Orange County, CA
Concentrated therapy for deeper healing and lasting transformation
Are you someone who has received IFS or EMDR but are not seeing the change everyone said would happen?
Have you…
Tried EMDR but felt like you were white knuckling it and crawling out of your skin the whole time?
Tried EMDR but felt like parts of you were not really consenting to the process?
Felt like something was wrong with you because traditional talk therapy didn’t result in feeling calm and peaceful like you had hopes?
Gone to an EMDR therapist and had a negative experience?
IFS Informed EMDR is a much gentler approach
IFS Informed EMDR combines these two powerful, evidence-based therapies to help you achieve internal balance and harmony. IFS supports the EMDR process in ensuring that all parts of you are giving permission to engage in EMDR. It also helps to make sure that the part that is involved in the traumatic event is the one getting the healing and that another part is not taking over the session (with good intentions). This gentle approach helps you to feel powerful and prevents big, upsetting emotions overcoming you.
Tell me more, Denise! How do we get there?
1) With IFS Informed EMDR, we identify a clear idea of what you want to have be different in your life (ex: “I want to be able to speak up for myself in the moment”, “I want to not say things I regret when I feel mad”).
2) We identify parts of yourself that are involved with those situations. For the example above of wanting to speak up for yourself, possible parts that a person might have would be a people pleasing part that wants to be liked, an anxious part that feels terror at the idea of others being upset and freezes, a part that criticizes you for not speaking up, a part that distracts you by making you binge on tv to avoid thinking about the situation altogether, etc.
3) We get to know one of these parts and try to understand it’s good intentions for you and help it to realize there is a you inside who is not a part who can be a support to it. We build a relationship between this part and Self (the you who is not a part) and strengthen this relationship using EMDR tapping.
4) We seek permission from the parts identified to go the part who holds and experienced the pain from the traumatic event using EMDR to accelerate healing.
5) This is where the “holy shit that was great!” can come in which can result in you saying that there is something else you want to address as well and then we repeat the process above.
What IFS Informed EMDR therapy can do for you:
Increase your confidence in being able to feel emotions deeply
Allow for gentle healing from traumatic experiences
Increase experience of wholeness, balance and feeling centered
Reduce feelings of shame and aloneness
Become the person you were truly meant to be
FAQ
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Sometimes when a person is receiving EMDR, different parts are stepping in to direct the therapy due to the part’s concern that you may experience upsetting emotions. These parts can be well meaning but they can stall the EMDR process. With IFS, we make sure to get permission from parts which opens up the process for healing, rather than resulting in stalling and you feeling disappointed with your experience.
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Anyone, but particularly those who have tried EMDR and were unable to see the results they sought or those who have more extreme parts in conflict with one another.
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Yes! Both have shown to be evidence-based.
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IFS stands for Intern Family Systems. It is an evidence-based modality that helps people get to know and understand all parts of themselves, including parts that hold wounds. By getting to know these parts and understanding the memories that shaped them, we can uncover how each part within has a positive intention for you. Through this understanding, you can have greater compassion for the parts that aim to protect you and the parts that hold the hurt. In doing so, you will have greater awareness of when parts are activated and how to be there for them. Thus, you will have more harmony internally between parts and in relationships with other people due to you being less emotionally activated.
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EMDR Therapy stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy and is a proven and effective therapy for trauma. EMDR can help alleviate symptoms such as negative self-beliefs, sleep issues, anxiety, depression and flashbacks to name a few. EMDR first involves creating resources (i.e. coping skills) that can help you feel confident in exploring and processing those difficult memories from the past.