Understanding EMDR Therapy

Traumatic experiences can continue to affect your thoughts, emotions, relationships, and sense of safety long after the event has passed. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a highly researched psychotherapy approach designed to help the brain naturally process distressing memories so they no longer feel overwhelming.

Through EMDR therapy, many people experience relief from symptoms and emotional distress connected to disturbing life experiences. Research has shown that EMDR can help clients make meaningful progress—sometimes more efficiently than approaches that once required years to achieve similar change.

Concerns EMDR May Help Address

• PTSD
• Disturbing life experiences
• Childhood trauma
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Grief
• Performance anxiety
• Negative self-beliefs

How EMDR Supports Healing

Unlike traditional talk therapy alone, EMDR helps the brain reprocess difficult memories. This can reduce emotional distress while allowing healthier perspectives to develop. Many clients find that experiences which once felt overwhelming become more manageable, helping them move forward with greater confidence and peace.

The Mind’s Natural Healing Process

It is often assumed that severe emotional pain must take a long time to heal. EMDR therapy is based on the understanding that the mind can heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical injury. When a physical wound is blocked or repeatedly irritated, healing slows and pain continues. Once the block is removed, the body can resume healing.

EMDR applies a similar principle to mental and emotional healing. The brain’s information-processing system naturally moves toward health, but distressing experiences can block or disrupt that process. EMDR helps remove those blocks so healing can resume and emotional distress can decrease over time.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

Emotions shape how we understand ourselves, make decisions, and connect with others. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) is a therapeutic approach that helps individuals and couples better understand their emotional experiences, recognize patterns that keep them stuck, and develop healthier ways of relating to themselves and others.

A Collaborative Approach

In EFT, the therapist and the person in therapy work together in an active, respectful process. The therapist offers guidance and support, while the client is recognized as the expert on their own emotional experience.

Key Skills Developed in EFT

• Increasing awareness and acceptance of emotions.
• Learning how to understand, transform, and use emotions in healthier ways.
• Recognizing emotional patterns that may contribute to conflict, disconnection, or distress.

How EFT Helps

Through compassionate, nonjudgmental listening and thoughtful reflection, EFT helps clients gain a clearer understanding of their emotions. Techniques such as emotion coaching support clients in responding to challenging emotions with greater awareness, flexibility, and care.

Rather than focusing only on symptom management, EFT addresses the underlying emotional patterns that can keep people feeling stuck. This creates opportunities for deeper healing, stronger relationships, and more lasting change.

Gottman Method Couples Therapy

The Gottman Method is one of the most extensively researched approaches to couples therapy, grounded in decades of scientific study on healthy relationships.

As a Certified Gottman Therapist, I help couples strengthen the core elements that create lasting partnerships:

• Healthy communication
• Effective conflict management
• Trust and commitment
• Emotional intimacy
• Friendship and affection
• Shared goals and meaning

The Gottman Method can help couples experiencing:

• Frequent conflict
• Emotional disconnection
• Infidelity recovery
• Parenting disagreements
• Financial stress
• Sexual intimacy concerns
• Major life transitions

Whether your relationship is in crisis or simply needs renewed connection, counseling can help you build a stronger, healthier future together.

Insurance, Hours & Rates

Choosing a counselor is an important investment in your emotional well-being. My goal is to make the process as straightforward as possible.

Insurance

• In-network with:
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Aetna
  • Tricare
• Courtesy documentation available for many out-of-network plans
• Marriage counseling is private pay and is not billed through insurance
• Please verify your mental health benefits, deductible, and copay with your insurance provider before your first appointment.
• If a claim is filed with your insurance, a mental health diagnosis is also submitted based on meeting criteria for that diagnosis.

Office Hours

Virtual

• Monday: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

In-Person

• Tuesday – Thursday: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Friday: Closed

Rates

• Initial 60-minute appointment: $175
• Follow-up 60-minute sessions: $150
• Extended sessions available upon request.

If you have questions about insurance coverage, fees, or scheduling, I’m happy to help you determine the best option for your situation.

COUNSELING OFFICE:

152 Capcom Avenue, Suite 101; Wake Forest, NC 27587-6585

BILLING ADDRESS:

PO Box 1205; Youngsville, North Carolina 27596

PHONE:

919.696.7010