What EMDR helps with
Christian counseling and EMDR, if you want it
Many people who come to me want their faith in the room. Others want it left at the door. Both are welcome, and the EMDR is the same either way.
How faith can be part of EMDR
EMDR has a preparation phase where we build the resources you will lean on during processing: a calm place, a protective figure, a sense of being held. For a person of faith, those resources are often already there. Prayer before a set, a verse that steadies you, the felt presence of God during the hardest moment of a memory: all of these can be brought into resourcing and used during your sessions.
I am a Christian, and I am comfortable praying with you, reading scripture with you, and talking about where God was in what happened. I will never introduce any of that unless you ask.
When the work stays secular
Plenty of my clients are not religious, or have been hurt by religion, or simply want therapy to be therapy. Nothing about EMDR depends on belief. If you tell me on the consult that you want the work kept secular, it will be, without comment.
If church or religious experience is part of the trauma, that can itself be a target. Spiritual abuse, shame taught in the name of God, and losses inside a faith community are all things EMDR can process.
Welcomed, not required
Faith is welcomed. It is not required. You can have Jesus and a therapist.
Sessions follow clinical standards for EMDR and for telehealth, and your confidentiality is protected by the same rules as any licensed therapist.
Questions
Do I have to be a Christian to work with you?
Can we pray during the intensive?
What if my trauma involves the church?
Book a Free Consultation
Free 20-minute consult. The consult confirms your state, fit, and which option suits you.