EMDR Treatment for Trauma

Do past traumatic experiences still cause you pain?

My name is Carol Boothroyd, Clinical Director & Therapist at Still Water Counseling. We specialize in helping people heal from trauma—whether it’s the impact of a single, life-altering event or the long-term effects of ongoing, cumulative pain. Trauma can show up in so many ways, and it can feel overwhelming.

If you’re struggling, you’re not alone.

Perhaps you’ve found yourself avoiding places or people that bring up difficult memories, or maybe you feel trapped in cycles of anxiety, depression, or fear.

These emotions can feel all-consuming, and it’s easy to wonder if they will ever let up.

At times, life can feel like an ongoing struggle—an exhausting back-and-forth between numbness and an overwhelming sense of hopelessness or disconnection.

If you’ve lived through trauma, you may find yourself feeling triggered in everyday situations, or relying on unhealthy coping strategies or addictions to feel “normal”. Suppressing emotions can leave you feeling numb and detached.

I want you to know that what you’re feeling is valid; it’s not your fault, and you’re not broken. Trauma affects all of us in different ways, but your responses to it aren’t signs of weakness – they’re your mind and body’s way of trying to protect you.

Healing is possible, and we’re here to walk this path with you.

At Still Water Counseling, we support you through each step of your journey. We offer a compassionate and holistic approach to healing, including EMDR, which is a powerful therapy that helps you process and release the emotional hold of trauma.

With EMDR, we won’t ask you to relive the trauma; instead, we work with your brain’s natural ability to heal by processing difficult memories so they no longer carry the same emotional weight. Over time, this allows you to break free from the cycles of distress and pain that can keep you stuck in past events.

You deserve to feel peace, and you deserve to feel whole. Through EMDR, we can help you uncover the resilience and strength that’s within you—strength that exists beyond the trauma you’ve experienced. Our goal is to meet you exactly where you are, with compassion and understanding, offering you tools and resources to help you build the life you deserve.

We believe in your ability to heal, and we’ll help guide you through the process with care and support.

You don’t have to face this alone.

Together, we can unlock the possibility of a life filled with joy, connection, and fulfillment. I can speak from experience that it’s never too late to take the first step toward healing.

Let us be your guide. Healing is possible, and it starts right here.

Do past traumatic experiences still cause you pain?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an extensively researched, effective psychotherapy method proven to help people recover from trauma and other distressing life experiences, including PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorders.

“It’s kinder, it is a gentler way of dealing with trauma.”

– William Henry Petty, PHD
Victims Service Unit Houston Police Department

What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Treatment?

Trauma is universal. The fact is, we live in a world where traumatic events such as abuse, neglect, rape, assault, betrayal, accidents, and disasters happen frequently. Trauma is at the heart of many mental and relational issues, such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) has been used to effectively treat trauma for the past 30 years.

EMDR is based on the theory that the brain’s processing system naturally moves towards mental health. If the system is blocked by the impact of a traumatic event, the emotional wound causes pain and suffering for the individual. Once the block is removed, natural healing can occur. More than 30 positive research studies have been done on EMDR, and it is recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization, and the Department of Defense.

In EMDR, eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used to process memory and disturbing feelings. Researchers believe that the effect of bilateral stimulation in EMDR is similar to brain processing that occurs during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level. For example, the rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the belief, “I survived it and I am strong.” Our therapeutic team is trained in EMDR in order to effectively treat trauma.

Who can be helped by EMDR and how it works.

If you have experienced something horrible and developed psychological symptoms such as flash backs, fears, sadness, or sleep problems you may be helped by EMDR Therapy. Painful experiences are stored in the brain with powerful emotions, EMDR therapy can help alleviate of these feelings.