Change and growth can be painful processes. However, there is nothing quite as painful as staying in a place you know you don’t belong. Surviving traumatic events can be, in a word: chaotic. You ask yourself the same questions repetitively, hoping for a different answer. Why did this happen? What could I have done to prevent it? Who will believe me? At times it can feel like you’ve witnessed yourself dissolve. All you can do is stand there and wonder if there is anything left of you to put back together.
Rock-bottom can feel debilitating, but it can also be an excellent foundation to build. That inner knowing that I may be shattered right now, but somewhere in me, that magic, that alive thing, is still in me. I will have to take a step back and cry when I need to cry, mourn what I’ve got to mourn, but I have got to heal.
The critical thing to remember is that change isn’t achieved overnight. Rushing and pushing cause resistance. Healing takes alignment. Aligning ourselves with the tools and resources that will support us takes time. It means coming to terms that recovery also requires doing things that make us uncomfortable at the moment, but that will significantly benefit us over the long term.
Often, our biggest fear isn’t that these traumatic events will happen again; Our biggest fear is that we won’t be able to handle them if it does. EMDR helps you take your power back and harnesses you with the tools to turn your greatest breakdown into your most significant breakthrough.
This post will explore how EMDR therapy will help you become the best version of yourself.
1) End Emotional Eating and Once And For All
When we experience strong negative emotions, it isn’t uncommon to experience a feeling of emptiness and hopelessness. Food can be an attractive solution since it can give us a sense of physical fullness even if we still feel that strong emotional void.
Here are the facts about eating disorders and obesity in the USA today:
● According to The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder in the United States.
● 10,200 deaths each year are the direct result of an eating disorder
● About 26% of people with eating disorders will attempt suicide.
● The U.S. adult obesity rate stands are 42.4%.
EMDR can help you navigate stressful situations and intense emotions that keep you vulnerable to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as binge-eating and substance abuse.
2) Build Strong Self-Talk and Self-Confidence
Our thoughts influence our feelings. Our feelings influence our actions. Our actions create our habits, and our habits create our lives. What we think and feel about ourselves plays a prominent role in trauma recovery. EMDR builds mental toughness and self-confidence because you will begin to hit mental and emotional breakthroughs that you once thought were impossible. Debilitating flashbacks will, over time, become minor inconveniences that come and go, like riding a wave in the ocean.
3) Improve Relationships
The quality of our lives is greatly determined by the quality of our relationships. EMDR helps us to discover who we are at the core. When this self-awareness is developed, it allows us to form more meaningful relationships, and we will be able to see people’s actions objectively instead of projections of previous trauma. Developing relationships with others will help us create a network of supporters that we can lean on in times of crisis.
4) Plan For Your Future
As EMDR helps resolve the pain and hurt associated with our trauma, you may notice that you will have more energy and courage to focus on new opportunities and experiences that can enrich our lives. When we keep our past big, it forces us to keep our future small. But when we come to terms with our past, it allows us to think about the future with a sense of wonder and start living intentionally to make it a reality.
5) Fade Debilitating Flashbacks
One of the classic symptoms of childhood trauma and PTSD is that trauma memories just won’t seem to fade. People with trauma might find themselves reliving their child abuse or sexual abuse repeatedly. A great thing about EMDR is that it transcends these traumatic events into more manageable, distant memories. Of course, you can still remember, but you will have the ability to separate the memory from your identity and self-worth.
6) Develop A Growth Mindset
A growth mindset simply means that you believe your talents and capabilities can be developed over time. EMDR shows us that setbacks are a part of life, and it doesn’t matter what happens to you; what matters is how you respond. Those with a growth mindset are more likely to embrace challenges and be more resilient. In the face of adversity, you will shift your mindset from: “why is this happening to me?” to “what is this experience trying to teach me?”
With a growth mindset, you will have a new approach to life. In the face of adversity, you will look for an opportunity to grow and develop yourself instead of treating every failure as a life sentence.