Accredited EMDR Therapist

Healthworks Practitioner: Leah Lithgow

E-mail: leahlithgow1@gmail.com

I am an EMDR Therapist accredited by EMDR Europe and a member of the EMDR Association in the UK.  I have additional training in attachment-informed EMDR and EMDR with Intergenerational trauma. 

EMDR is a psychotherapy that helps you process and recover from past experiences that affect your life now. There is a lot of research evidence that EMDR is effective for addressing different types of distressing experiences including anxiety, depression, addictive behaviours, phobias, and trauma (https://emdrassociation.org.uk/a-unique-and-powerful-therapy/research/). 

EMDR is not an analytical therapy.  It supports your own natural recovery process and your own wisdom to emerge. 

Our difficulties in the present usually have roots in the past and those are not always obvious but our bodies and emotional experience reflect traces of those experiences.  EMDR supports us to process those bodily and emotional reactions so that we are no longer reacting to present events with such intensity or relying on unhelpful coping mechanisms that leave us feeling bad about ourselves.  It releases us from the past and supports us  to  enjoy more fulfilling lives and relationships now. 

Use of EMDR has been widely reported in the media, often by famous people who have benefited such as (the former) Prince Harry addressing his grief, and the war correspondent Fergal Keane addressing PTSD.  See https://emdrassociation.org.uk/a-unique-and-powerful-therapy/in-the-media/

How EMDR works

EMDR is a structured therapy.  It starts with assessment of your current challenges and your capacity to engage in EMDR processing.   Processing is often powerful and challenging and your safety is most important so we start by building skills.  We will also have a thorough exploration of your personal history to help us to see how your past has shaped your present - your relationships, experiences and behaviours, your challenges and strengths. 

EMDR processing is different from ‘talk therapy’.  It involves accessing the traumatic memory whilst using bilateral stimulation (BLS) - i.e. stimulating each side of your brain in turn to support access to your subconscious mind and process the emotions and body experiences associated with your traumatic memories.  BLS may involve moving your eyes from side to side or alternately tapping your chest or knees.

BLS holds us in the present whilst accessing traumatic memories.  This is a key element of trauma therapy.  It supports a client’s inherent wisdom and healing to emerge.

If you would like a brief phone conversation to help you decide whether EMDR may be for you, send me an email (leahlithgow1@gmail.com) with your phone number and your availability and I will be in touch.