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Perinatal Mental Health Resources
Here to make your healing journey less lonely.
When birth doesn’t go as planned, and other ways birth is traumatic
Perhaps one of the most challenging things about birth is, in fact, that it often doesn’t go as planned as there is no surefire way to make it so. We’re often so busy making plans that we don’t set forth some expectations that things may not go as planned. I like to think that this is one (of many) sources of traumatic birth. Others may involve medical complications, need for emergency treatment, or a NICU stay, to name just a few. To quote trauma expert Katie O’shea, trauma can be defined as “anything for which the mind is not adequately prepared.”
How is EMDR different than traditional talk therapy?
You may have heard about EMDR and its profound impact on healing trauma and other mental health issues. If you’re asking yourself how it works, then you’re in the right place. EMDR is different from other psychotherapy approaches for a number of reasons.
First, EMDR is what’s considered a “bottom-up” approach while traditional psychotherapy or talk therapy typically involves a “top-down” approach.
What to Expect in EMDR Therapy
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy can be highly effective in relieving distress and negative beliefs related to a traumatic experience. There are eight phases involved in standard EMDR therapy—not all of which occur during a single session, but typically over a period of sessions. How fast or slow one moves through the eight phases depends on several factors including how recently the trauma occurred, pre-trauma functioning, and one’s unique strengths and skills in tolerating distressing emotions, to name a few.
Is EMDR safe during Pregnancy?
This is a common question asked by both therapists and patients alike. Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that EMDR is contraindicated during any stage of pregnancy. In fact, untreated mental health conditions appear to be more detrimental to both mother and fetus or infant that far outweigh and negative effects of treatment. While some treatments have adverse side effects that can negatively impact the developing fetus, there’s no evidence that leads experts to believe that this is true for EMDR therapy.