EMDR Therapy

Are you considering EMDR therapy in Fort Collins?
Jake Lohwater, LCSW specializes in EMDR therapy

REQUEST A CONSULTATION

Therapy To Help You Move Forward

Is something holding you back in life? Overcoming a trauma, dealing with abuse, anxiety, or PTSD can be difficult.

Our Fort Collins EMDR therapy can help you move past the things keeping you stuck. EMDR  counseling can help you heal from difficult or traumatic life situations.

Learn how EMDR therapy can help you move forward in life!

TALK TO AN EMDR THERAPIST

HEAL YOUR BODY

EMDR can help your body heal from a negative experience.

HEAL YOUR MIND

Free yourself from thoughts or memories you can’t seem to let go.

HEAL YOUR EMOTIONS

Overcome difficult emotions you feel like you can’t move past.

What is EMDR therapy?

EMDR therapy is a specialized form of counseling to help you heal from traumatic, negative, or stressful life experiences. It can help you heal from the things triggering your anxiety, anger, depression, and more.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It works by targeting and processing the thoughts and feelings that are causing your pain.

EMDR counseling helps your body and mind focus on the core issues causing your problem. As you work through the things that are keeping you stuck you’re able to move forward within your life with ease as you become more integrated in your experiences. 

What does EMDR help with?

EMDR therapy has traditionally been used to help people recover from traumatic life events and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Today EMDR therapy has expanded to treat a variety of problems. Our EMDR treatment in Fort Collins can help you with any of these problems:

  • General Anxiety
  • Social Anxiety
  • Panic Attacks or Anxiety Attacks
  • Explosive Anger or Rage
  • Depression
  • A traumatic life situation
  • PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
  • Shame, Insecurity or Guilt
  • Low Self Esteem

Hi, I’m Jake Lohwater and I’m an EMDR therapist in Fort Collins

Are you ready to move past the things holding you back in life? I believe in EMDR therapy because I’ve personally experienced the change it can bring. I’ve also seen many of the people I work with experience transformation with EMDR therapy! Call me or e-mail me to find out how EMDR treatment can help you.
MORE INFO ABOUT ME

I am a trained psychotherapist in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy through the Maiberger Institute helping clients move through trauma, abuse, anxiety, depression and more. Depending on my client’s needs I use several therapeutic modalities including: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy or EFT (focusing on relationship and attachment styles), Gottman Model, PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy) and a Client-Centered, Strengths Based approach.

If you are interested in receiving this remarkable therapeutic approach, I can help you decide if EMDR would be the right addition to your treatment.

Certifications: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Trained Therapist with the Maiberger Institute; TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) Trained Therapist; ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) Trained Therapist.

HAVE QUESTIONS?

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can benefit from EMDR Therapy?

Anyone that has ever had a negative experience and wasn’t able to recover can benefit from EMDR. These people often describe feeling stuck, anxious, irritable, or have physical health problems despite treatment. Common symptoms include panic attacks, nightmares, flashbacks, trouble sleeping, anger outbursts, and low self esteem.

What can EMDR help with?

Traditionally EMDR therapy is used to treat post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It can successfully help with many trauma related issues including anxiety problems, panic attacks, phobia’s, unresolved grief, disturbing memories, addictions, pain disorders, and anger or rage problems.

How long is EMDR Therapy?

EMDR therapy is a process. There are 8 phases of treatment that your therapist will guide you through. While EMDR is designed to speed up your ability to heal, it’s not a one time treatment. The length of therapy can always vary depending on the severity of your struggle, current life situation, current resources and more.

Does EMDR really work?
I use EMDR therapy because of the breakthroughs I have seen it provide to many of the people I have worked with. EMDR has also helped millions of people around the world, and is one the most effective treatments for trauma.
How effective is EMDR treatment?

EMDR is a specialized form of therapy that is recommended by many mental health organizations including the American Psychiatric Association, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense. Over 20 studies have found that EMDR treatment can significantly improve problems related to post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

How does EMDR Therapy Work

When you experience something negative or traumatic it affects your nervous system. Sometimes these experiences get “stuck” in your nervous system. EMDR helps you target what’s keeping you stuck and will help your nervous system heal.

Is EMDR hypnosis?
No, EMDR therapy is different from hypnotherapy. You are awake and alert during the entire process of therapy. Your body, mind, and emotions are doing the work for you as you process information during EMDR.

Want to Learn More about EMDR?

Is EMDR Therapy Right for You?

There are many kinds of symptoms or problems clients bring to EMDR therapy from home, work, or relationships. People tend to think that EMDR only helps people who suffer from severe experiences like auto accidents, war, sexual abuse and rape. If you have suffered from these traumas, EMDR might be very helpful for you. But other issues can also be helped with EMDR.

Answer the following questions with a “Yes” or “No” to see if EMDR might be helpful to you

I find it difficult to be assertive in my relationships at work or at home.

I struggle with my body image thinking I’m fat when others think my body is thin.

I over eat when I get emotionally upset.

I feel anxious or depressed most of the time.

I have the tendency to procrastinate and feel bad about myself.

I have behaviors that sabotage my efforts to succeed.

I have a low tolerance for frustration or anger.

I have a difficult time concentrating.

I have lost interest in activities that used to bring me pleasure.

I fight a lot and experience a lot of anger

I abuse substances and have an addiction.

I struggle with making decisions.

I experience somatic Illnesses that doctors can’t explain.

I am experiencing some sexual dysfunction.

I feel panic a lot during the day or night.

4 + 5 =

If you said “yes” to any of the above questions you might benefit from some EMDR Therapy. Source: Maiberger Institute, Boulder, CO
REQUEST A CONSULTATION

Theory and Benefits of EMDR

EMDR Therapy (or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy) is an integrative therapy that helps people heal from traumatic events and life-disturbing experiences. Discovered by Dr. Francine Shapiro, EMDR Therapy has gotten worldwide attention for helping millions of people heal from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) caused from traumatic events, such as; sexual abuse, childhood trauma, auto accidents and combat. EMDR Therapy can also help people who feel distress in their lives to heal and feel more whole after events that have been disturbing such as; divorce, life transitions, grief, anxiety and much more.

When people are experiencing distress in their lives and can’t find a way to fix it on their own they end up coming in for EMDR Therapy. Sometimes events happen in a person’s life and they struggle to find a way to integrate that incident. That event can become an unprocessed memory and get stored in the brain creating symptoms that are uncomfortable. Physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, and images associated with the event can get locked into the brain, and without treatment, may lead to distressing symptoms and behaviors affecting relationships and functionality.

EMDR Therapy is designed to help a person identify and process these stuck pieces so that the symptoms can decrease and one can feel more alive, connected and less distressed. EMDR Therapy helps facilitate the activation of the brain’s inherent system to process and integrate the information that got stored or stuck. EMDR Therapy will not erase the memory; rather you will be able to remember the story without all the emotional charge that was distressing before the treatment.

Source: Maiberger Institute, Boulder, CO

What is PTSD?

A person may develop PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) if they are exposed to or witness to a traumatic event in which there was an actual threat of death, serious injury, or harm to self or others, or if they felt intense fear, helplessness, or horror. According to the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorder (DSM-V), PTSD is when someone is exposed to an actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in different ways that can include: Experiencing the traumatic event Witnessing others experiencing trauma Learning that a traumatic event occurred to a close family member or close friend. Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to difficult details of a traumatic event People suffering from PTSD often experience:

    • Disturbing memories, thought
    • Nightmares
    • Have trouble sleeping
    • Feel irritable or angry
    • Have trouble concentrating
    • Feel hyper-vigilant or on guard for fear of danger
    • Experience flashback memories
    • People tend to know PTSD from War Vets being in the news. But PTSD can happen from auto accidents, rape, sexual abuse. If you are suffering from trauma or feel “stuck” when trying to change destructive patterns of thought or behavior, EMDR Therapy might be right for you. Only a qualified doctor or therapist can give you a diagnosis of PTSD.

Source: Maiberger Institute, Boulder, CO

What is Trauma?

Trauma is any past experience that you perceive as negative and that negatively impacts your present life. It creates extreme stress in the body and mind. Traumas can be perceived as horrific, helpless to prevent, and threatening to either your survival or the survival of others or it can be when something happens to you large or small, that leaves you feeling distressed and misaligned and you are unable to process it for some reason. The effects can be long lasting and create distressing symptoms. All trauma manifests in physical and/or sexual and/or psychological symptoms, which can eventually lead to PTSD.

Symptoms of Trauma
Here is a list of symptoms that can occur from experiencing trauma or life disturbing events:

  • Have difficulty concentrating
  • Experience sleep problems (difficulty falling or staying asleep and often to avoid nightmares associated with the event))
  • Find yourself hyper vigilant (feeling constantly on-guard)
  • Over-react to noises or other environmental cues that didn’t bother you before
  • Find yourself irritable, angry and experiencing outbursts
  • Have nightmares
  • Have recurrent and intrusive thoughts about the traumatic event
  • Act or feel as if the experience is happening again in the present
  • Experience intense psychological distress and/or physiological arousal when exposed to (internal or external) stimuli that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event
  • Experience flashbacks (suddenly feeling as though the event is happening in the present)
  • Attempt to avoid thoughts or feelings associated with the traumatic event
  • Attempt to avoid activities or situations that evoke memories of the traumatic event
  • Find yourself unable to recall an important aspect of the traumatic event
  • Feel detached or estranged from others and your daily life
  • Sense you’re unable to feel as you once did; you feel numb or spaced out, unable to care or to love
  • Feel less interest and pleasure in activities
  • Feel a sense of foreboding and anticipate a limited future; you don’t expect to have a career, marriage, children, or a long life
  • As you can see by this list of symptoms, trauma can cause problems for people and be quite disconcerting. If you are experiencing several of these symptoms you might benefit from EMDR Therapy.

Source: Maiberger Institute, Boulder, CO

REQUEST A CONSULTATION

Have a look around. See which service is right for you.

It’s my goal is to create a comfortable, safe environment where we’ll write your success story together.

Individual Therapy

Couples Therapy

Nature Therapy

EMDR Therapy

Life Coaching

View All Services