Eastside Counseling Services

Flash Technique

“Flash” is a way to relieve the distress of traumatic memories, without having to immerse oneself in the feelings, images, and (often) negative self-talk accompanying the trauma. The back-and-forth horizontal eye movements of simple EMDR are still used, but with only lightly touching on the raw feelings associated with the trauma. Even without the brief surge of emotion, and sensations, felt in regular EMDR, Flash successfully shifts the unprocessed, unwanted, traumatic material. 

EMDR 2.0

“2.0” is a powerful technique under the EMDR umbrella. It is designed to process large amounts of traumatic material, which often is accomplished quickly and efficiently. Compared with simple processing, EMDR 2.0 adds multiple layers of cognitive tasks to activate the treatment. This intense stimulation of the 'working memory' allows for trauma, stored in the long-term memory system, to be processed into calmer, less distressing states. Another important benefit of 2.0 is its natural ability to keep the client “in the present” during its treatment. This can be a critical component for highly dissociative trauma survivors.

Addictions (and compulsions)

Addictions can be complicated to treat, but we are often able to reduce the intensity of cravings and compulsions (to use and act out) by incorporating standard trauma therapy techniques. The benefit of this approach is often two-fold; the client is now able to have more autonomy over whether or not to use, and the feelings and mental intensity driving the addictive behavior no longer are able to conceal underlying unprocessed trauma. The client is then able to be more connected to traumatic material needing attention, and are then able to progress through therapy more quickly. 

Grief

Many people who experience loss, experience grief. We help people who are grieving feel better more quickly, and feel like they have their lives back. We particularly help those who feel they are “stuck” in the grief process, to get unstuck and regain their health. When we learn to fully connect with the feelings accompanying losses or transitions, then we begin to adequately heal. Some helpful ideas for grief include; ‘it always takes longer to heal than you think’, ‘until you allow yourself to feel it, you won’t get better’, and ‘it always takes longer to heal than other people think it should’. 

Anxiety

We offer treatment of different types of anxiety. We work with anxiety that originates from having a more ‘anxious body’. Someone in this category is more prone to slipping into a physically anxious state, and much more commonly finds themselves experiencing anxious thoughts. (These folks also tend to be more highly sensitive people, and often are ‘creative types’). We also treat anxiety that is attachment driven; meaning that when someone is young they did not receive enough ‘connection’ from those around them. Therefore their nervous system is more easily triggered into an anxious state. Lastly, unprocessed trauma can lead to high anxiety. In this case dealing with trauma beneath the surface causes the anxiety symptoms to lessen. 

A focus on emotional trauma.

At Eastside Counseling we help individuals who experience a range of emotional difficulties. Drawing from a wide variety of specialized therapies, we treat trauma, depression, anxiety, relationship and intimacy problems, addictions/compulsions and more. Eastside Counseling’s approach is based upon emotional healing and trauma recovery that can help put personal and mental health struggles behind you. Those who benefit from our services may have a defined traumatic experience (or many) such as assault, rape, or other kinds of abuses. However, different types of negative experiences, often from childhood, also very much can cause life-long debilitating problems. Narratives around not being worthy, never being good enough, “something is wrong with me”, are often maintained when emotional trauma is present.

The basics of EMDR, and processing past memories and emotions.

EMDR is a way of rapidly shrinking the high distress often associated with a negative memory, even if it occurred long ago. Our brains (and bodies) have the ability to process bad experiences without assistance, but for different reasons this mechanism can become hindered. EMDR is often effectively able to activate the internal shifts necessary to integrate the memory from the past with the sensations and awareness of the safety and validation of today. When the treatment is performed successfully, the client can generally still ‘access’ the bad memory, but immediately notices it no longer carries the negative weight it previously did.

Trauma at greater depth.

Trauma can present itself in many forms. ‘Flashbacks’ are generally a clear example of past trauma, as the sensations tend to be vivid. However, existing wounds from past events can show up in less obvious ways. ‘Dissociation’ (although this term is used in different ways), is often a useful way to understand various kinds of trauma, and various trauma responses. In general, dissociation is a way to not feel a certain memory, negative thought, or negative affect stored away in the brain and body. Although this is a type of avoidance, it is often the natural response our mind resorts to in order to seek internal safety, and even temporarily a sense of worthiness, validation, or connection. Diagnosable dissociative disorders tend to be at the most extreme end of this trauma response, however other severe symptoms such as depression, anxiety, poor self-worth, suicidality/self-harm, disordered eating, and addictions, are examples of other ways trauma manifests.