EMDR looks a little different when working with children. I am trained in how to tailor EMDR to specifically for children, weaving in play-based methods. Parents play an important role in the healing process and are often part of the treatment to help children process and move past trauma.

Your child will benefit from EMDR therapy services if they have:

• Experienced abuse or neglect
• Witnessed violence
• Experienced traumatic incident such as car accident
• Lost a loved one
• Experienced parental separation and/or divorce
• Experienced a sudden move
• Lost a home to a fire
• Been involved in a natural disaster
• Experienced bullying, criticism and/or rejection by family or peers

Or if they suffer from:

• Anxiety including social and separation anxiety
• Phobias
• Depression
• PTSD
• Aggression- temper tantrums
• Sleep disturbance/nightmares
• Attachment issues
• Oppositional and other behavioral issues

When children receive EMDR, they move their eyes from side to side while they think about the difficult thing that happened to them. This is equivalent to the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) that we all experience during dream sleep. EMDR therapists can use several alternative methods to create the bi-lateral stimulation needed for EMDR including tapping client’s hands, having children hold handheld buzzers or using headphones.

If you would like more information about EMDR for children, or would like to schedule a free 20-minute phone consultation, please contact me.