Cusack Counselling Therapy

Research has found that EMDR therapy decreases/ eliminates the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress, and symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress such as anxiety. Research has also shown that EMDR therapy is an efficient and rapid treatment.

“Over the past number of years I have had the honour of being friends with some of the bravest folk I have ever met. These folks struggle with issues of mental health and society’s stigma attached to mental illness. Their bravery has inspired me to share a bit of my own story. I share with them issues of mental health but I have carefully avoided the public stigma. Lately I have found such a measure of relief that I feel emboldened to join my brave friends.

Twenty some years ago I was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Pardon my layman’s explanation but PTSD occurs when the brain does not properly process the memory of a traumatic event or events, and the memory triggers all the emotional and physical reactions as if the event was happening in ‘real time’.

One of the powerful memories for me was that of discovering the limp lifeless body of my son Jamie. This truly awful event happened over 30 years ago but I have relived it countless times over the years. Rather than being stored away in the ‘memory bank’ as a sad and emotionally laden memory, this memory ‘floated’ just below my awareness all the time. All the events of my life were seen through this prism. Ordinary day to day kinds of experience were unaffected but any experience (event, sight, smell, taste etc.) which was reminiscent brought the feelings back with a great rush of adrenaline!

Since that diagnosis I have received lots of counsel involving coping mechanisms designed to help me live a normal life. (My friend Jillian says normal is only the setting on a dryer.) Coping is no fun! Coping is relatively easy when things go well but in times of heightened stress it can become very difficult (read impossible!).

Recently I learned that there was hope to move beyond coping and experience real healing. A new, to me, therapy EMDR https://emdrcanada.org/emdr-defined/ held out hope for real relief. Again as a layman allow me to describe my experience. EMDR is a means of engaging the whole brain, both hemispheres, at once in recalling the details and emotions of an event. The brain which is “fearfully and wonderfully made” heals itself by processing and ‘filing’ this event. It is as if the brain ‘gives itself a shake’ and the memory becomes unstuck.

In the space of one hour what had haunted me for 30+ years had been healed. Therapists can give technical explanations of how this works but I simply thank God. It has been a marvellous experience. It has been a mystical experience!

I describe it like this. It is similar to the experience we have in the optometrist’s chair. We initially look through the opaque lens. We do not see clearly all is confusing and frustrating but the optometrist begins to click the lens until suddenly the world comes into focus!

I suspect that there are others who like me are suffering silently with mental health issues. I am so delighted to know His healing in this area and I would urge all people to take mental health out of the dark and discover the healing God may have for us.”

EMDR therapists  have specialty training in EMDR, Training is facilitated   by an approved EMDR trainer.  In order to qualify  for EMDR training,  and individual  must have a minimum of a Masters degree in Counselling,  and at least two years experience  in the Counselling profession.  There are two levels  of training for EMDR.  Basic training  is the first level,  and graduates of this program  are EMDR therapists.  The second level is  Certification,  which includes additional  training, consultation  and experience  with EMDR.  Graduates  from this  second level  are  certified EMDR therapists.  Here is a link  to find an EMDR therapist in your area:

Click here to find an EMDR therapist

Nancy is a certified EMDR therapist in Saint John New Brunswick.   EMDR therapy  is  specialized treatment  for Post Traumatic Stress,  and  anxiety and depression  that stems from Post Traumatic Stress.

Can you benefit from EMDR therapy?  click here to find out

When a disturbing event occurs ( like being lit on fire and then stomped on), the brain and body are too traumatized to process this information in an adaptive way. The trauma often becomes frozen in an individual causing one to experience a heightened sense of danger, long after the event has occurred when no real danger is present. An individual may have constant intrusive thoughts, dreams, emotional responses, flashbacks and body sensations even years after the traumatic event occurs. It is common for individuals who are experiencing this to think they need protection ( such as carrying a 9 inch knife) as they feel a constant sense of danger. This is Post Traumatic Stress. There is treatment. EMDR is the number one recommended treatment for Trauma. Please recognize it, talk about it, and seek help!

EMDR is an evidence-based psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In addition, successful outcomes are well-documented in the literature for EMDR treatment of other psychiatric disorders, mental health problems, and somatic symptoms. The model on which EMDR is based, Adaptive Information Processing (AIP), posits that much of psychopathology is due to the maladaptive encoding of and/or incomplete processing of traumatic or disturbing adverse life experiences. This impairs the client’s ability to integrate these experiences in an adaptive manner. The eight- phase, three-pronged process of EMDR facilitates the resumption of normal information processing and integration. This treatment approach, which targets past experience, current triggers, and future potential challenges, results in the alleviation of presenting symptoms, a decrease or elimination of distress from the disturbing memory, improved view of the self, relief from bodily disturbance, and resolution of present and future anticipated triggers.