EMDR Therapy in Durham, NC
EMDR therapy in Durham, North Carolina for children, teens, and adults experiencing trauma, anxiety, PTSD, or distressing life experiences.
EMDR Therapy in Durham, NC
Quick Facts
- Who It’s For: Children, teens, and adults struggling with trauma, PTSD, anxiety, or distressing life experiences
- Conditions Treated: PTSD, trauma, anxiety, panic, flashbacks, negative self-beliefs, grief, and emotional overwhelm
- Therapy Approaches: EMDR therapy, trauma-informed care, coping skill development, and evidence-based trauma treatment
A Gentle Approach To EMDR Therapy in Durham, NC
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a gentle method of psychotherapy that can help people recover from painful or distressing experiences or beliefs that have not been helped by other therapies. Distressing experiences can include events that most people would consider to be trauma, like sexual assault, a car accident, or other physical injury. It can also help recovery from events that people may minimize the impact of, such as a time you felt embarrassed or ashamed, suffered a loss of any type, or did not feel safe in any way. It can also help with negative beliefs about yourself or the world that are impacting your life. If you’d like to start EMDR therapy in Durham, NC reach out to Acacia Collaborative Psychological Services.
Do I have to talk about the trauma in detail?
No. EMDR therapy can often be effective without fully disclosing every detail of the traumatic experience.
Your therapist will work at a pace that feels safe and manageable for you.
Sources: EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) – Information about EMDR therapy and effectiveness
https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/
In addition to equipping you with individualized coping skills, EMDR works by moving the memory of the traumatic event from long-term memory to short-term memory and then processing information about the event while using techniques to encourage bi-lateral brain stimulation. Processing the event can be done without disclosing the details of the event to your therapist. This sequence helps the person to process the event while simultaneously feeling safe. This causes the event to lose the emotional charge it has had for you and then the brain’s normal process for recovering from trauma can resume normally. Symptoms previously experienced can then decrease. For example, you may feel less anxious & depressed, feel worthwhile or hopeful, and be able to remember the event without the threat responses it once evoked.
EMDR can be done with children or adults and through in-person or telehealth settings. If you are interested in getting more information about EMDR and see if it might be a good fit for you, you can schedule a quick chat with one of our EMDR providers.
EMDR Therapy for Releasing Trauma
Most people experience a number of distressing events in their lifetime, and most of those events can be processed normally by the brain without much work. Some events, however, become “stuck” and cause the body to frequently experience threat responses (fight, flight, or freeze). This can cause the brain to work very hard without relief. Symptoms you may experience from an unresolved trauma can include flashbacks, nightmares, sleep disruptions, upsetting images or thoughts, and feelings of powerlessness, fear, or worthlessness. EMDR is a therapy designed to resolve these “stuck” events, decreasing disruptive symptoms, and getting you back engaged in life again.
How Do You Get Started?
STEP ONE: CONTACT US
At any point in your decision to pursue therapy or assessment, feel free to contact us with questions. We will gladly talk with you over the phone to determine if one of us will be a good fit. Visit our Contact Page.
STEP TWO: INTAKE
Once you have scheduled an appointment, you will be emailed forms to complete electronically prior to your first appointment. If we are in-network with your Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, or State Health Plan insurance benefits will be processed.
STEP THREE: FIRST SESSION
Your first appointment will be 60 minutes. In this first appointment, we will discuss what brought you in, your history, and will develop a “game plan” with you to work toward your goals.
FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS
Learn more about Acacia Collaborative & Therapeutic Services.
Are you in-network with my insurance?
Most providers at Acacia are in-network with most Aetna and BCBS plans and the NC State Health Plan. We also accept the following Medicaid plans: Healthy Blue, Carolina Complete, and Wellcare. Additionally, we accept Blue Home with UNC Health Alliance. Our psychological and psychoeducational evaluations are out of network.
For other insurance providers, we provide everything you need to easily file with your insurance, including an insurance “super bill” or statement of services and a link to your claim form. We are also happy to reach out to your insurance company, with your permission, if you would find that helpful.
There are some things that are bothering me, but also some things I specifically don't want to talk about. Is that ok?
Absolutely. At Acacia Collaborative, we “meet you where you are.” This means that we do not force you to talk about topics you are not ready to discuss or do not feel are relevant. We are trained at various levels of “depth” of treatment and believe there is no one “right” way to be in therapy.
While most people do choose to have weekly sessions for the first few months, we are flexible about how often and how long you would like your sessions to be. We will offer suggestions, but ultimately, it is your decision about what you would like to get out of therapy.
I’m in the process of shopping for a therapist, is there a way for me to speak with one of you to see if we are a good fit before committing to working with you?
Yes, absolutely. Finding the right fit with a therapist is one of the most important factors in whether therapy actually helps, so we want to make that easy for you. At Acacia, we call these consult calls: a brief, no-pressure phone conversation where you can ask questions, share a little about what's bringing you to therapy, and get a feel for whether one of our therapists might be the right match. There's no obligation to move forward afterward.
If you're interested in scheduling one, just let us know and we'll get you connected.
Contact Acacia Collaborative
Ask a question or book an appointment below.
Hours
Monday through Friday
9AM-8PM
Saturday: 9AM-3PM
Durham Office:
3710 University Drive #302, Durham, NC 27707
Cary Office:
570 New Waverly Pl #210, Cary, NC 27518
Online Therapy
All of North Carolina
Insurance
Accepting Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Home with UNC Health Alliance, State Health Plan, Out-of-Network Superbills & Private Pay. We are credentialed with the following Medicaid plans: Healthy Blue, Carolina Complete, and Wellcare.
Services
Mental Health Therapy & Psychological Assessments