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Biofeedback & EMDR

Heart Rate Variability using HeartMath, EMDR for Grief, Attachment, and Traumatic Stress

While biofeedback and/or EMDR may be woven into psychotherapy, I also provide these in a stand alone way.  Sometimes your therapist suggests that you obtain adjunct treatment with one of these modalities, or you may choose yourself to do so. 

Biofeedback of any sort is a way to monitor aspects of our physiology in real time for the purposes of detecting both the physiological stress response (sympathetic nervous system dominance), as well as the physiological relaxation response (parasympathetic). There are many forms of biofeedback, and I have trained in most of them extensively in the context of grief, traumatic stress, and pain (both acute and chronic). In my practice, I only use heart rate variability biofeedback with the HeartMath system. In biofeedback you learn how to detect subtle signs of your stress and relaxation responses, see in real time how body and mind are connected, and learn ways to control, strengthen, and optimize your relaxation response. An optimized relaxation response is helpful for a host of challenges. Even people who feel "I can't relax" can learn how. 

EMDR, eye movement desentization and reprocessing, was initially developed to assist recovery from traumatic stress. It can also be used for processing grief as well as attachment wounding. Sometimes it is most appropriate not to reprocess but to exclusively resource (build up soothing, grounding, and strengthening). This modality is especially helpful for this engaging both your body and mind. 
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