Adapting to Life's Challenges

One of these types of therapies is called EMDR. Learn more about what EMDR is here. With over 13 years of experience and a certification in EMDR, Linda reflects on her experience providing this gold standard of trauma therapy.

"In my work with clients utilizing eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), a model of intervention developed in 1987 by Francine Shapiro, I have come to witness with my own eyes the miracle of this adaptation process.  Francine is known in the clinical community as having wished she initially called the model Adaptive Information Processing.  What she learned is the same I have come to realize about how the human body integrates information experienced in efforts to adapt."

What this means is that no matter how hard the challenge is, your brain and body will adapt.  What is important is to support healthy adaptations and this can be achieved in psychotherapy.  We do this by attaining skills that support well-being and optimal functioning.

What can happen when facing difficult life challenges is that we make efforts through messages we have incorrectly interpreted as for our good and which we may believe are protecting us from further harm, however, our assumptions and judgments can be wrong about ourselves, others, and the world.  When this happens, we create narratives that further injure us and keep us bound in maladaptive patterns.  This results in mental health symptoms and in some cases chronic physical symptoms.

Psychological interventions help by strengthening the adaptive neural memory network. Simply put, our brain and body keep track of every experience, even the ones we are not conscious of, and store our meaning by making efforts to safeguard against pain and to enhance pleasure.  When we think negatively about ourselves, others and the world, this leads to choices that can isolate and prevent contentment.  When the memory network gets triggered by a past painful experience, we may notice avoidance of the sensations this memory brings.  This is normal. It takes courage to lean into discomfort.

This is why in therapy you will learn the courage of vulnerability and the tools to strengthen what the body is already designed to do – adapt.  With EMDR, clients learn tools of mindfulness, being fully present to your moment-by-moment experiences, and even learning dual attention to the past while staying grounded in the present can help heal painful memories.

Preparation for life’s challenges doesn’t come to all, but thankfully can be developed.  Learning how to be present with discomfort then grows into increased confidence in one’s ability to adapt to the experiences we don’t want or wish to have happened in one’s life.  The negative core beliefs fade and the positive core beliefs rise to the surface and govern one’s life, allowing change inside and out, with connection to self and other’s that becomes remarkable. If this approach sounds like a match for you, you can book in with Linda for a first session.