DIRECTIONS FOR USE (When to use)
- Use when past experiences keep intruding into the present, even when you “know logically” you’re safe.
- Use when emotional reactions feel bigger, faster, or more intense than the situation seems to warrant.
- Use when you feel stuck in patterns that don’t match who you are now.
- Use when talking about something hasn’t helped, or has helped only up to a point.
- Use when your body remembers what your mind is trying to forget.
SUPPLEMENT FACTS
Active Formulation: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
Origins & Evolution: Developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s, EMDR is an evidence-based trauma therapy originally designed to treat post-traumatic stress. Over time, it has evolved into a comprehensive, eight-phase treatment approach used for a wide range of trauma-related and stress-based experiences.
Historical Roots: EMDR is grounded in the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, which suggests that many psychological symptoms arise when experiences are inadequately processed and become “stuck” in the nervous system. While EMDR is firmly rooted in Western neuroscience and psychology, its emphasis on the body’s innate capacity to heal echoes long-standing somatic and holistic understandings of mind-body integration.
Clinical Efficacy: EMDR is recognized internationally as a highly effective treatment for PTSD and trauma. Research also supports its use in anxiety, depression, complex trauma, phobias, performance blocks, chronic stress, and attachment-related wounds.
Primary Mechanism: Facilitates adaptive reprocessing of distressing memories. By using bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones), EMDR helps the brain and nervous system metabolize experiences that were once overwhelming, allowing memories to be stored without the same emotional charge.
Key Distinction: The goal is not to relive trauma, analyze it endlessly, or “talk yourself out of” your reactions. EMDR works by allowing the nervous system to complete what was interrupted—so the past can feel like the past.
INGREDIENTS
The Eight-Phase Protocol:
- History Taking & Treatment Planning: Understanding your story and identifying targets safely.
- Preparation: Building stabilization, resourcing, and trust before processing begins.
- Assessment: Identifying the memory, beliefs, emotions, and body sensations involved.
- Desensitization: Using bilateral stimulation to reduce emotional distress.
- Installation: Strengthening adaptive, supportive beliefs.
- Body Scan: Noticing and clearing residual somatic tension.
- Closure: Ensuring you leave each session grounded and regulated.
- Re-evaluation: Tracking integration and ongoing changes.
Core Elements:
- Bilateral Stimulation: Eye movements, tapping, or tones.
- Target Memories: Past events, present triggers, and future templates.
- Nervous System Tracking: Paying attention to emotional and somatic shifts.
Additional Ingredients:
- Resourcing and Stabilization Skills
- Grounding and Containment Techniques
- Somatic Awareness and Pendulation
USER’S MANUAL
The Brain’s Natural Healing System:
EMDR is not something done to you—it activates something already within you. My role is to help create the conditions where your nervous system can do what it is designed to do: process, integrate, and restore balance. We move at a pace that respects safety, consent, and readiness.
WARNINGS:
This supplement does not erase memory; it changes how memory lives in the body.
Processing may temporarily increase emotional or somatic awareness between sessions.
Stabilization and preparation are required before full dosing begins.
Active collaboration and honest feedback are essential.
Drug Interactions (Synergy):
EMDR often works well in combination with other supplements. It may be paired with ACT to support values-based living after trauma processing, or with parts work when different internal experiences hold conflicting needs or fears.
Dosage Instructions:
Do not rush to the highest dose. Effective treatment is titrated carefully, with pacing guided by your nervous system—not a timeline.
Storage:
Store in a therapeutic relationship built on trust, consent, and attunement. Keep accessible during moments when the past refuses to stay in the past.
These supplement descriptions are provided for educational and reflective purposes. They describe how different therapeutic approaches may be used and integrated within my clinical work, rather than offering a standardized or one-size-fits-all treatment. All formulations are customized based on individual needs, consent, readiness, and the therapeutic relationship.