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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — EMDR Therapist, Doctorate in Toxicology, Toxicologist

Contact EMDR Viv

Welcome! I’m delighted to connect with you!

For Online EMDR therapy please read the 12-Session Philosophy and fill out the Appointment Inquiry Form below. You will then be emailed a link to book a free 15-minute consultation. 

ALL SESSIONS ARE ONLINE and are NOT in-person. 

To attend one of our free ONLINE 45-minute group open-help session please click here to book.

All media inquiries please visit our sister site VivPhD and fill out the contact form there. Thank you!

12-Session Philosophy

When working with EMDR for trauma treatment I recommend working together for no more than 12 consecutive session at a time that can span 3-6 months. The reason for this is explained in detail below in the “12-Session Max Philosophy Explained” section. The goal is to get you some powerful results so you can feel better faster and to learn the tools you need to take care of yourself in the most healthy way possible. 

 

Appointment Inquiry Form for On-line Sessions

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    Have you ever been diagnosed with any of the following? (Select all that apply)

    Do you have any suspected mental health condition(s) that have not been diagnosed? If so, please describe or write no. (required)

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    Have you ever suffered any of the following traumas? (Select all that apply)

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    12-Session Max Philosophy Explained

    After working with many dozens of clients over the years, and based on my personal experience as a client, I’ve noticed a few important things about healing, recovering, and achieving and maintaining good mental health and wellbeing. I believe in effective, efficient, and lasting results for clients, but it is important that clients have the desire to learn how to maintain their results, as life is dynamic and full of new challenges. I’ve adapted how I work with clients to help them directly and to empower them to help themselves so they can learn how to be healthy for a lifetime without the need for therapy. 
     
    1. The brain changes as we use it, specifically in the way we use it. It is very normal and common to have acquired maladaptive (non-beneficial) patterns of thinking and feeling that have become hard-wired in the brain, and go on to repeat themselves unconsciously. In the case of psychological trauma, especially severe forms of trauma resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder/injury (PTSD/PTSI), certain things happen in the brain making it almost impossible to move past debilitating symptoms without proper treatment. When this happens, EMDR (eye-movement desensitization reprocessing) therapy can be invaluable, as it has been scientifically proven to rewire the brain, permanently disrupting pathological debilitating patterns, and replacing them with healthy brain function. (You can watch the following videos to learn more about how if you are interested on our youtube channel, VivPhD called “How EMDR Works” https://youtu.be/mxcs20e-fuU and “How Self-EMDR Works” https://youtu.be/y62LAzijPDg or listen to Episode 3, “The Neuroscience of curing PSTD with EMDR therapy” in our podcast at https://www.coffeewithscientists.com/). However, it is IMPORTANT to handle trauma therapy with care, as doing “too much” trauma therapy can rewire the brain to hyper-focus on “traumas” in your life. There needs to be an educated balance between using specific types of trauma treatment and other psychotherapeutic approaches like DBR (deep brain re-orientation), positive psychology principles, and working with the client to develop their own resourcefulness in attaining and retaining good mental health and physical wellbeing. It is important to heal trauma and also to ensure the neural networks that the client is left with are healthful and adaptive. The client needs to be involved in this process, as the therapist can not do so on their own.
     
    2. Therefore, while sometimes we need others to help with healing, to be mentally and physically healthy we need to be committed to healing and helping ourselves as well (with help and guidance as needed). I or another therapist can provide guidance and a safe, nurturing environment, as well as a compassionate therapeutic relationship that is important on a neurological, as well as spiritual and human level to help your brain patterns change and your heart and body to heal. However, no therapist or no one person will always be available to help you when needed. We have a remarkable ability to heal ourselves and a necessity to access our full potential to emotionally regulate, sooth, and motivate ourselves. It is fundamental to learn how to tap into this fountain of love and restoration, of motivation and nurturing to help us lifelong through life’s challenges. This is not something I can do for you, but it is something I strive to help you learn how to access yourself.
     
    3. Many times, we can find ourselves helpless, lost, even desperate or hopeless not knowing where to turn or what to do. At these times we NEED a helping hand and perhaps some guidance. That’s normal and ok. Many people who have suffered complex trauma, particularly in childhood, have trouble with their sense of self-esteem or self-worth, and may have early attachment issues (not having learned how to sooth and regulate themselves from their parents). This can make it hard to have the internal resources to help yourself if that’s the case, and sometimes we don’t always know how. That’s ok and therapy can help with that. I strive to help you build the internal resources to be able to help yourself, as well as learn how to build healthy relationships you can lean on. The idea is to develop enough internal resources to be able to rely on yourself and to learn good habits and practices of maintaining good mental health, physical health, and happiness. 
     
    4. Psychological trauma is real and debilitating and can sometimes really block us on a neurological level from feeling healthy and happy. EMDR is an effective therapy for certain types of psychological trauma and can often make a world of difference. For complex, early life trauma, the problems often stem back to ruptures in attachment or failure to attach to caregivers in a healthy way (most often because of the caregivers’ issues). This results in not only a lower sense of self-worth but also, issues with feeling safe, and a feeling of existential loneliness, that is often very painful. It feels especially bad when you are down, like no one cares, and no one will or can be there for you. EMDR can help with this but I often find DBR (deep brain re-orientation) can be a more effective approach, sometimes combined with psycho-education and bibliotherapy. The bottom line is that psychological trauma DOES need to be treated with trauma therapy but it is a short-term intervention.
     
    5. When clients lack the desire to learn how to help themselves, and or the commitment to continue to invest their time and efforts into keeping themselves physically and mentally healthy (once they have received the proper guidance on how to help themselves), or are mistrustful of all guidance and cannot choose a course of action for themselves, it is often because the early attachment trauma has not been healed enough for them to feel internally competent enough to emotionally regulate and soothe themselves (in absence of a “caregiver” or therapist). This can lead to becoming unconsciously dependent on the therapeutic relationship (“addicted to therapy”) and seeking continuous therapy for many years. 
     
    In order to avoid clients becoming dependent on therapy, and to empower and teach clients how to access their own internal resources for healing, I offer clients a variety of resources for them to learn by themselves, while helping them work through their most debilitating traumas or attachment issues. I also build and offer self-help courses to help teach people further resources on how to help themselves. I also limit all trauma therapy to a maximum of 12 consecutive sessions at a time. This means that you can only book a maximum of 12 consecutive sessions for trauma therapy, which is equivalent to a “standard course” of EMDR therapy. The sessions typically take place over 3-6 months during which there is plenty of time for deep healing, powerful internal shifts, and access to information and resources about how to continue a healthy, happy life afterwards. While I cannot guarantee, you will reach all your therapeutic goals in that time, as this depends on many factors, typically significant results are reached during that time, and of course you can desist therapy at any time. YOU ARE IN NO WAY OBLIGATED to attend all 12 sessions. The policy is rather to prevent ongoing trauma therapy for months to years at a time, which, while sometimes helpful but can also be detrimental. 
     
    Therapy should be a bridge point to healing and feeling better, not a crutch or replacement for something missing in your life. The key is to learn how to fill up those gaps without professional intervention in the long term. If further therapy is needed after the 12 sessions, I often recommend taking a break and practising your new skills or trying someone else with a different approach or learning/practising some self-help techniques before coming back for a second course of therapy. If a second course is necessary, we can assess that later at that time. 
     
    My truest intention is to help you to feel better as soon as is healthy and possible, and to help you gain the tools to take care of yourself for a lifetime, living a long, happy, and healthy life. 
     
    If after reading the above, you are interested in individual sessions with myself, and you feel my approach resonates with you, please fill out the appointment inquiry form below and I will send you a calendar link to set up an individual time to talk. 
     

    What is the free 45-minute Open-Help Session?

    I’m passionate about helping EVERYONE find their way to freedom from pain and suffering, and to build a life of happiness and fulfilment!!!

    I came up with the Free 45-Minute Open-Help Sessions that take place online in a group video-conference format to answer any questions you may have about EMDR, meditation, hypnosis, mind and body connection, psychological trauma, how to find a good therapist… etc, and to share healing tips apart from the ones I publish on my youtube channel – VivPhd, and sister website, VivPhd.

    I’ve helped a lot of clients over the years free themselves from the burdens created by their traumatic pasts and now I’m getting far more inquiries for help than I can attend to on an individual basis. So I came up with the 45-Minute Open-Help Sessions to help all of you FOR FREE. As I’m only one person, this is the best way to help address each of your questions and to offer you personalized tips and suggestions as best I can in this format.

    I do this because I AM COMMITTED to helping all of you find the help you deserve!!!

    So please fill out the form to reserve your spot now!!! These are 100% FREE 🙂

    Looking forward to connecting with you!

    Office Location

    I work online by telemedicine video conference so all consultations are done remotely to any location around the world in English or Spanish.”

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