A type of therapy known as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing originated as an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Since then, counselors have employed the practice for patients with other psychological disorders. A mental health therapist in Irvine, CA may provide it for relieving long-term depression, for example.
Conventional Approaches
For many individuals, depression lasts for more than a year and can have debilitating symptoms. Some try struggling through it without treatment, while others participate in psychotherapy and take prescription medication. Those conventional approaches are not always effective, though.
Depression Caused by Trauma
EMDR may be most suitable for people whose depression began with a traumatic experience. However, their long-term emotional reaction may not technically be PTSD because they don’t have symptoms like flashbacks, panic, and nightmares. Instead, they have a chronically low mood decreasing their quality of life. Some feel depressed enough to have trouble working full-time or completing normal daily activities.
Grief and Trauma
As provided by a mental health therapist in Irvine, CA, EMDR involves reprocessing negative memories still causing distress long after the incident is over. An example would be grief connected with the traumatic loss of a loved one.
Although a loved one’s death commonly causes serious emotional pain, some losses are generally more traumatic than others. For example, losing a child to illness or an accident may seem nearly impossible to deal with. Unfortunately, that can hold true even after many months have passed.
Anyone suffering from long-term depression caused by a traumatic event may want to view information about an EMDR therapist provided at Revelation Counseling.
