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Sometimes an event can be so stressful

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that it overwhelms our ability

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to process or make sense of what happened.

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And so, that memory it gets stored

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with all of the thoughts, the images, the feelings,

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and sensations of what happened at the time of the event.

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And so, anytime that you think about, or recall that memory,

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or are reminded by that memory,

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it can feel like you're reliving it

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rather than just remembering it.

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And so, no wonder why, right?

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Anytime that, that happens, it's so hard to deal with it.

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But we have this ability to recover

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from psychological injury the same way

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that we might recover from a physical injury.

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In EMDR, your therapist will guide you

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through a series of steps

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in a safe and structured environment

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to tap into that natural recovery process.

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You'll begin to go into that memory, into the past memories,

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and focus on particular parts of the memory

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in a way that allows new information to come in

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to be able to focus on things

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that perhaps you had forgotten.

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Perhaps things that you hadn't realized

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at the time of the event.

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And as this occurs, the distress related to that memory

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starts to come down.

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New beliefs about yourself,

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about the situation start to shift.

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You might start to believe,

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I'm actually safe now, it wasn't my fault.

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And as this happens, you start to be able

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to feel comfortable doing things

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that maybe you weren't doing before.

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Your relationships start to improve.

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Your therapist will have you focus on things

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that occurred in the past,

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but as that resolves, you'll then start

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to focus on stressful things in the present

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and how you want to handle those

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more effectively in the future.