IN-PERSON AND ONLINE IN COLORADO
EMDR in Colorado Springs
You can honor what happened to you without being controlled by it.
You’re starting to wonder if you’ll ever feel “normal” again.
A siren passes your window and you break into a sweat. You were in the middle of doing the dishes, but suddenly you’re back in the delivery room at the hospital where your baby came early and your birth plan went awry. Or it could be the sound of a stressed mother scolding her kids in the grocery store that reminds you of conflict from your own childhood.
You are usually great at pushing through and putting others' needs first. You thought you were past it all, but something keeps bringing you back. Maybe you’re afraid of male Ob/Gyns or shrink during prenatal exams. You might avoid some places completely because of the memories they surface.
You were once on top of everything and could handle it all, but lately you don't want to get out of bed or leave the house. When you do, you’re hyperaware of everything around you. Your family had always called you “sensitive,” but you lived with it. Lately, though, the noise is overwhelming.
Maybe you…
Keep replaying a specific memory like childbirth, a loss, or a childhood experience, and you can't figure out why it still has this much power over you.
Have tried therapy before and maybe even found it beneficial, but still have those unresolved feelings swirling around whenever you think about the situation you’re trying to move on from.
Put everyone's needs ahead of your own, because taking up space physically or emotionally doesn’t feel completely safe.
Feel restless in your own body, and you don't sleep well, or your heart races randomly, but your doctor can't find a physical reason.
Pull away when someone tries getting close to you, or you lash out at the people you love most, and you don't fully understand why.
Are starting to realize how much your upbringing still affects you now, as a parent.
Some reactions to daily life might feel completely out of your control, but that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.
What is EMDR?
When something distressing happens, your brain normally tries processing it during REM sleep, when your eyes move back and forth. Ideally your brain sorts through the experience so it can become a memory that lives in the past.
Sometimes experiences too overwhelming to fully process get “stuck” inside the world wide web of your mind. Instead of feeling like something that happened to you, the experience feels like something that is still happening, because your body doesn’t realize you are not experiencing that original distress.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy to help you process those stuck memories.
Your mind and body already know how to heal—they just need support releasing what is stuck.
OUR APPROACH
Many mothers we work with experience a traumatic birth, pregnancy loss, NICU stay, or painful memories from childhood that resurface after becoming a parent. Talking about and growing to understand those experiences can go a long way, but sometimes talking alone is not enough. In that case, we may recommend EMDR.
In session, your therapist takes you through guided eye movements or alternating taps while you recall a memory—like what your body does during REM sleep. As your brain works through what it couldn't finish alone, the emotional charge around the memory starts softening and eventually resolves.
The goal isn’t for you to forget your baby's birth, your loss, or any other experience. But the memory should not control you anymore. We want your body to finally know what your mind has been trying to tell it:
You’re safe now.
EMDR therapy can help you move the needle in ways you may not have been able to before.
FROM
"I can't stop thinking about what happened."
"I feel like I'm drowning in my own emotions."
"I can't be present with my baby."
"I blame myself for everything that happened."
"I don't feel safe in my own body."
“I’m always bracing to be reminded of what happened"
TO
"What happened is part of my story. The experience doesn’t control how I live."
"I feel calmer in a way I didn't think was possible. I can talk about what happened without breaking down."
"I can spend time with my child without my mind jumping back into something painful."
"I stopped believing what happened was my fault, and I stopped apologizing for it. I can recognize that I am not at fault."
"My mind and body feel like mine again. I can be present with my own needs, wants, desires, and feelings."
"I can be around certain places and people without being pulled back into the experience."
IN-PERSON AND ONLINE IN COLORADO
It’s time to hear what your body has been trying to tell you, and release it.
FAQs
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No. During a session, EMDR can bring up strong emotions, because you're briefly recalling something painful, and that can feel intense. But you're never returning to the experience alone. Your therapist keeps you grounded in the present, and you are always in control of the pace.
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No, and that's not the goal. Your baby's birth, your loss, whatever you experienced, those are part of your story, and we would never want to erase them. What changes is how your body responds when you think about those experiences.
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After a session, you might feel tired, emotionally tender, or more aware of your feelings. Some women experience vivid dreams or old memories surfacing between sessions. All of this is normal and a sign that your brain is processing. We will prepare you for what to expect.
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EMDR may be a good fit if you keep replaying a specific memory and can't figure out why it still affects you so strongly, if you have tried therapy before and didn’t feel like therapy fully helped, or if your body keeps reacting to something your mind has tried to move past.
That said, EMDR isn't the right starting point for everyone. If you're currently in an unsafe situation, recovering from a brain injury, or do not have the tools to manage intense emotions, we might wish to start with other work and move into EMDR when you're ready. We'll talk through all of this during your consultation and you will never start something you are not prepared for.
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Every person’s experience is different. We can’t provide a set timeline, but EMDR tends to move towards resolution faster than traditional talk therapy because it works directly with how your brain stores a memory. Most clients start feeling a difference before they expected to.
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Your therapist will determine if online EMDR therapy is the best approach for your experiences and symptoms. Online EMDR works similarly to in-person: Your therapist guides you through bilateral stimulation using techniques adapted for video. The results are just as effective. Some clients prefer the comfort of their own space for this work. Others find it easier to access difficult memories while in a place that already feels safe to them.
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Weekly sessions work best. EMDR builds momentum from one session to the next, and too much time between sessions can slow that down. We know that, especially as a mother, scheduling is hard. We will work with you to find a realistic rhythm, but consistency matters with EMDR. We want to set you up for the best possible outcomes.
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EMDR was originally developed for PTSD, but it is effective with processing many kinds of trauma, including experiences mothers face like a difficult childbirth experience, a pregnancy loss, or painful childhood experiences that resurfaced through parenting.