Dr. Leigh Anne Randa Treats PTSD,  Trauma, Anxiety Disorders and Other Conditions With EMDR.

When you go through an upsetting event, the brain will try to process your experience so that you can move past it. But sometimes it seems like the brain gets stuck in a traumatic moment. The physical sensations you experienced may remain extremely clear, as do the emotions and unhelpful, frightening, or hopeless thoughts you had at the time.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is an evidence-based therapy method for helping patients who have experienced trauma reduce the negative feelings behind a trauma and feel like they can finally move on. Dr. Leigh Anne Randa at Friendly Psychology uses EMDR as one of her treatment solutions for anxiety and trauma conditions.

Dr. Randa is licensed in Arizona, Missouri, and Kansas and provides EMDR through remote therapy. Learn more about EMDR and whether it might be the right fit for your challenges by sending us a message or calling Dr. Randa at 858.224.3767.

What is EMDR and How Can It Help?

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy has been in use for several decades. Originally developed by Francine Shapiro, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, this comprehensive therapy integrates concepts from various other well know systems of therapy such as psychodynamic, behavioral, experiential, cognitive, and body-based. EMDR is deeply rooted in the Adaptive Information Processing model or AIP model. The AIP model posits that the images, thoughts, affect, and behavior experienced during a traumatic event are insufficiently processed and get stored in this inadequate and unhelpful format in the brain’s neural networks. Current day stimuli that activate these negative affect and beliefs may cause an individual to behave in the same way they did at the time of the traumatic event. The goal of EMDR therapy is to process and reconsolidate this dysfunctionally stored information by supporting the brain’s natural methods of processing experiences to their most helpful resolution.

During EMDR treatment at Friendly Psychology, Dr. Randa will help you to identify traumatic memories and direct you in recalling or “activating” the memory of the troublesome past experience. You will notice the physical sensations, images, thoughts, and emotions that are stored in the brain’s trauma memory network for the event. Equally important is the crafting of your positive or preferred belief about self in the context of that past event.

Dr. Randa will then use a dual attention technique to help you focus on both your memory and an external sign, such as following a finger with your eye as it moves from left to right or using a hand tapping or audio tone. By splitting your focus, your brain is able to significantly speed up the process of adaptively processing memories, releasing the negative affect stored in the body, and coming to understand the experience from a healthier perspective.

What Dr. Randa Can Treat with EMDR

EMDR was originally developed as a method for treating trauma of any type. As psychological research has progressed, EMDR is now utilized for a variety of mental health diagnoses and challenges. Dr. Randa works with you to understand what trauma you may have experienced and determine if we can adapt EMDR to your needs. You may be seeking treatment for:

• PTSD
• Panic Attacks
• Anxiety 
• Grief
• Phobias

If you have had other challenges, Dr. Randa can discuss your options with you and whether it may be helpful to process past experiences using EMDR, or if one of the other modalities that she works in can be better suited to meet your needs. Often a combination of methods is utilized to provide effective therapy.

Start Your Healing Process – Contact Friendly Psychology to Learn More

While EMDR can be a powerful treatment solution and can offer relief without having to discuss all of the smallest details with your therapist as other modalities might, you still want to be working with the right psychology for your needs.

At Friendly Psychology, Dr. Randa focuses on getting to know patients, both as a person and in terms of your trauma or other mental heal difficulties. This gives her the ability to empathetically guide you through treatment, identifying which memories are best processed with EMDR, and how you can most effectively reprocess those experiences to give them less control over your life. Her goal aligns with yours and she is dedicated to helping you see yourself as a powerful survivor of past trauma and thriver in your current life.

All appointments and EMDR treatments from Friendly Psychology are offered remotely to clients in Missouri, Kansas, and Arizona so that you can participate from the comfort of your home. To begin on your path towards better mental wellness with EMDR and other proven therapy techniques, contact Dr. Randa at Friendly Psychology to get more information about our practice.