Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy for LGBTQ+ Adults and Adult Children of Immigrants in Oakland & Online in California
Integrative, neuroscience-informed therapy that uses your brain’s natural capacity to heal from trauma
When the Nervous System Can’t Take it Anymore
Sometimes an experience happens that shakes up our hold on reality. We moved through the world one way, and in the next, we are changed. We carry the experience without comprehension. Instead, what reverberates is an alarm system stuck on blast. A clenched stomach. A held breath. A bracing for impact. As if it’s still happening.
If your body resonates with this description, then EMDR therapy in Oakland or online might be for you. I support LGBTQ+ adults and adult children of immigrants with healing what has been stuck in their bodies and is trying to get free.
Trauma is about how we put the pieces together.
Trauma is anything that disrupts our sense of who we are and how we view the world. This can include experiences of abuse, assault, car accidents, war, natural disasters, and death.
Trauma can also occur when the parts that make us feel most alive, precious, and human are dismissed, punished, rejected, or humiliated.
Trauma is less about what happened, and more about the meaning we make from it. It’s the moment we internalize: I am not safe. It was my fault. I am unworthy. I am alone.
When trauma occurs, our brains are unable to fully process the experience. It was too much too soon. The original images, sensations, thoughts, and feelings associated with the event get stuck in the brain. This is why it can feel like we’re right back in that moment, over and over again.
Instead of having a cohesive story of what happened to us, we feel unanchored and disorganized. EMDR therapy in Oakland and online in California can help.
To survive the impact of trauma, we develop wise & imperfect ways of coping.
When the most precious parts of ourselves are neglected, humiliated, shamed, or made invisible, a shift can happen. We develop strong defenses to protect our vulnerability. A way to keep the hurt out. A way to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
What emerges from experiences of abuse, trauma, and oppression is a brilliant, fierce determination to survive and stay safe.
I work with LGBTQ+ adults, trans, nonbinary, and genderfluid adults, and adult children of immigrants whose survival strategies look like:
being hyper responsible and independent
anticipating others’ needs, caretaking, becoming needless
striving for perfection
managing other people’s emotions and behaviors, attempting to control the outcome of uncomfortable situations
With EMDR therapy, you get an opportunity to meet your suffering with grace, compassion, and respect. We honor that these defenses were the wise adaptations of a younger you, and gradually return you to the authentic connection with yourself.
How does EMDR therapy work?
During EMDR therapy, the eyes move back and forth laterally, following a pace that makes sense for you and your nervous system. I use an online program that facilitates this bilateral stimulation. You can follow a dot with your eyes or listen to alternating audio tones (with headphones).
Bilateral movement stimulates our natural processing abilities, such as during REM sleep when our eyes naturally move from side to side. We restart the brain’s innate ability to self-heal, which was disrupted when the trauma occurred. The stuck memory moves from one part of the brain to another.
What emerges is a meaningful narrative about what happened that gently settles into its place in the past. You move from I am not safe and relax into I am in control. I am beyond repair becomes I am worthy of healing.
Your brain does all the work. Whether we’re meeting in Oakland or online, my role as your therapist is to be with you on the journey and provide direction through the process.
“The key to healing is not just knowing what happened but transforming how the mind, body and soul still remember it. ”
Janina Fisher
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I offer EMDR therapy to LGBTQ+ adults and adult children of immigrants in Oakland and online. EMDR therapy is for you if you feel restricted, confined, or distressed by emotional memories of the past.
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EMDR therapy in Oakland and online can include:
PTSD and C-PTSD, including
Physical abuse and assault
Sexual abuse and assault
Emotional abuse
Bullying (including LGBTQ+ specific instances of bullying)
Shame
Grief and loss
Panic attacks
Phobias
Stubborn negative beliefs that contribute to depression or anxiety (e.g., I am unworthy, I am not good enough, I am a burden)
Intense emotional reactions to chronic pain and illness, such as fear, anger, dissociation, and avoidance
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EMDR therapy in Oakland and online can help you:
Tell a cohesive, meaningful story of trauma and resilience
Experience relief from symptoms of PTSD (flashbacks, nightmares, startle response, hypervigilance, emotion dysregulation)
Regulate difficult emotions without fear or overwhelm
Offer yourself compassion instead of blame about what happened to you
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Yes! I use an online program that allows us to do EMDR virtually and receive the same benefits as doing the therapy in person.
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EMDR therapy is a consent-based model, in that
1) there needs to be trust in the therapeutic relationship to do healing work safely, and
2) protective parts or our coping mechanisms need to be on board with treatment. If we cannot release our defenses, then we spend more time building trust in the body that it is safe to process the trauma. Moving forward without the consent of our protective parts can re-traumatize the nervous system.
With EMDR, we assume that there is going to be some activation. This activation lets us know which parts of you are trying to heal.
At the same time, you do not have to share all of the details of the traumatic event with me in order to feel the healing effects of EMDR therapy. You get to decide how much to share depending on what feels right for you. Limited disclosure will not negatively impact your ability to process; in fact, for some, it might allow you to go farther in processing.
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Our brain has a natural capacity for healing from trauma, so long as we have the necessary elements in place. This is the same way that our bodies naturally move toward healing.
When we have a scrape on our knee, our bodies intrinsically work to heal it. If, however, there’s sand in the wound, we have to remove the sand first to allow the body to do what it needs to do.
Similarly with EMDR therapy, we identify and remove blocks in the brain’s neural networks to resume self-healing.
People who undergo EMDR therapy tend to report feeling lighter, freer, and significantly less impacted by the trauma they experienced, almost as if they are looking at it from a far away distance.
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Working with LGBTQ+ adults and adult children of immigrants, I support people with processing experiences of trauma, neglect, and oppression from their childhood and adult lives. Some clients who reach out want to do EMDR therapy to focus on specific concerns. Other people might want to explore IFS therapy, somatic therapy, or traditional talk therapy, and then will consider EMDR therapy later in the process. We can discuss what works best for you.
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We start with a comprehensive historical overview of what brought you to this current moment. This allows us to identify pivotal moments that impact the way you currently understand yourself and the trauma.
During this assessment, we identify the significant themes that emerged from how your brain processes the trauma. Some examples of themes are:
I am not safe
It was my fault
I am unworthy
We spend ample time making sure you feel fully resourced and safe before we begin to reprocess the trauma. We will also test out which bilateral stimulation method works for you, as some people do better with eye movements, whereas others prefer tapping or alternating audio (using headphones).
Afterward, we will create a loose “flight plan,” where we map out the different trauma memories or events to explore, triggers, and/or persistent negative beliefs about yourself. This gives us some direction about where to start and where we are headed.
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Some clients want to continue reprocessing during every session, whereas others want to intersperse processing with other sessions that look more like traditional talk therapy, somatic therapy, or IFS therapy. EMDR therapy is flexible, so it’s not necessary to do it every time we meet.
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The fee is the same for a 50-minute session ($230). This is the case because we might not do EMDR during every session.
There might be times that we choose to meet for 75 minutes, as EMDR sessions tend to move quickly. In these instances, we will coordinate times to meet for a longer session, which may be different from our usual appointment time. 75-minute sessions are $275.
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I was trained to practice EMDR therapy with a somatic focus. As such, we do not necessarily need to start EMDR therapy with a specific trauma memory or event. We can begin by focusing on a familiar bodily sensation that carries a significant level of distress.
Some examples are chronic back pain, areas of numbness, chest tightness, and headaches.
I also incorporate my IFS Therapy training into EMDR therapy. All three modalities work beautifully together to offer a comprehensive approach to healing.
