A gentle, evidence-based approach to healing
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a research-supported therapy that helps the brain and body reprocess distressing or traumatic experiences so they can be stored adaptively, rather than continuing to activate distressing emotional or physical reactions in daily life.
In EMDR, healing does not come from retelling your story — it comes from the way the nervous system, memory, and body reorganize when they feel safe enough to complete what was once overwhelming. When something distressing happens, the body and mind mobilize to protect you through instinctive responses — fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. When the situation is too much, too fast, or too long, those protective responses cannot complete, and the brain cannot form adaptive memories about what happened.
These unprocessed experiences can remain “stuck,” showing up later as anxiety, shame, physical tension, or emotional reactivity. They can interfere with relationships, erode confidence, and make it hard to trust ourselves or others — even when we know we’re safe.
Within the safety of therapy, the nervous system has the space and support to finish what could not be finished before — to release what was held, update what was believed, and integrate the experience into a more coherent sense of self.
EMDR as the Framework for Healing
As an EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist and Approved Consultant, I use EMDR as the foundation of my work — a framework that helps the brain and body heal through adaptive processing and connection, and one that holds and organizes everything we do together.
Every session is rooted in the principles of Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) and guided by your nervous system’s readiness for healing.
Other approaches — including somatic and polyvagal work, parts work, Sandtray, listening therapies (SSP, RRP, Focus), and cognitive-behavioral methods — all fit within this EMDR framework. They become tools or pathways within the broader EMDR process, supporting stabilization, resourcing, reprocessing, and integration.
In this way, EMDR is less a single technique and more a way of understanding and facilitating healing — one that honors the whole person: mind, body, and nervous system.
EMDR 2.0 and Movement-Based Processing
In addition to standard EMDR, I am trained in EMDR 2.0 — an updated, research-supported version that integrates findings from working-memory and neurobiological studies.
EMDR 2.0 combines the structured framework of traditional EMDR with more active, adaptive, and creative forms of dual-attention stimulus (DAS) to keep the processing dynamic and closely aligned with the nervous system’s needs in real time.
Movement and embodied expression often play a central role in healing work. DAS may include walking, kayaking, rhythmic movement, or intentional physical release through movement or sound — ways for the body to complete what was once held and return to regulation.
This approach supports adaptive reorganization and integration by engaging multiple systems of the body in healing — allowing for deep regulation and resolution while maintaining safety and connection.
Specialized EMDR Protocols
Every client’s story is different, and EMDR can be adapted to meet the unique needs of each person and nervous system.
I am trained in several advanced EMDR protocols, including Early Trauma, Dissociation, Addiction and Craving, Somatic Interventions, Parent-Child Attachment, and Sandtray Integration.
These approaches extend the standard EMDR framework to safely and effectively address complex trauma, developmental wounds, attachment disruptions, and other patterns that may not respond to traditional talk therapy alone. Each is used thoughtfully and always grounded in readiness, pacing, and the therapeutic relationship.
A Collaborative Process
EMDR at Our Healing Ground is not a protocol applied to you — it is a process we move through together. Each phase is guided by trust, safety, and presence. Our focus is always on pacing, integration, and your nervous system’s natural rhythm for healing — work we move through together, at your pace.
