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Go With That

Reflections on psychological trauma by an EMDR trauma therapist. All photos/artwork by author.

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Doing Therapy, Working w/Complex Trauma1 Comment

What’s So Complex about Complex Trauma?  Phase One

May 29, 2020June 5, 2020 Thomas Zimmerman

A Simple and Metaphor-Guided View of Working with Complex Trauma using EMDR Phase One of EMDR therapy is an important part of the recovery process.  It is often the point where a new client meets his new therapist.  First impressions … Continue reading What’s So Complex about Complex Trauma?  Phase One

Culture and Trauma, Sunshine3 Comments

Is EMDR 30 Years Old?

May 27, 2020May 28, 2020 Thomas Zimmerman

The debate continues about the working mechanism of EMDR therapy.  Dr. Shapiro’s original theory that EMDR may be similar to processes in REM sleep is less compelling when we consider the wide range of other highly effective forms of bilateral … Continue reading Is EMDR 30 Years Old?

Developmental Trauma, Doing Therapy, EMDR, Invisibility4 Comments

Unwanted Embodiment

July 5, 2018July 5, 2018 Thomas Zimmerman

If I had a talent when I was young, it was going away.  Retreating deeper into that space that doesn’t have a name.  If I have any talents now, they have grown from what I learned by being alert and … Continue reading Unwanted Embodiment

Culture and Trauma, Doing Therapy, Things Not To Do6 Comments

The Ethics of Not Treating Trauma

July 3, 2018July 4, 2018 Thomas Zimmerman

We are entering a new era of trauma awareness.  We are just starting to be able to make visible the central role that trauma plays in human development, physical health, and in relationships of all types.  We are recognizing that … Continue reading The Ethics of Not Treating Trauma

Doing Therapy, Invisibility, Newbie Lessons2 Comments

“That Which Does Not Kill Us” And Related Lies

July 1, 2018August 11, 2018 Thomas Zimmerman

That Which Doesn’t Kills Us, Makes Us Stronger –Nietzsche In our age of growing trauma awareness, the resilience movement has a core conceptual problem.  Resilience, when it comes to someone who has been traumatized, arrives as a functioning of healing. … Continue reading “That Which Does Not Kill Us” And Related Lies

Culture and Trauma, InvisibilityLeave a comment

“It Wasn’t That Bad:” Trauma and Invisibility

June 24, 2018June 24, 2018 Thomas Zimmerman

When my son was six years old, he realized rather abruptly that we all have to die.   I had a similar realization at about his age and I remember how suddenly and deeply that panic rolled through me. This realization … Continue reading “It Wasn’t That Bad:” Trauma and Invisibility

Culture and Trauma, SunshineLeave a comment

Faith, Hope, and Recovery

May 20, 2018May 21, 2018 Thomas Zimmerman

[Invited message for Mental Health Sunday delivered on 5/20/2018 at First Federated Church, North Jackson, OH.  Message follows reading from Ezekiel 37:1-14: The Valley of the Dry Bones.] Good morning.  I’m Tom and I’m a trauma therapist. When I started … Continue reading Faith, Hope, and Recovery

Doing Therapy, EMDR, Newbie Lessons, Things Not To Do2 Comments

Dancing Around the Unspeakable at Intake

April 28, 2018April 29, 2018 Thomas Zimmerman

“Have you ever been emotionally, physically, or sexually abused?”  It’s a standard intake question asked tens of thousands of times a day as part of mental health assessments all across the country.  At the beginning of my career I asked … Continue reading Dancing Around the Unspeakable at Intake

Culture and Trauma, Developmental Trauma, Doing Therapy, EMDR, Invisibility, SunshineLeave a comment

Regarding the Trauma of Others

April 14, 2018March 26, 2019 Thomas Zimmerman

All memory is individual, unreproducible – it dies with each person. What is called collective memory is not a remembering but a stipulating: that this is important, and this is the story about how it happened, with the pictures that … Continue reading Regarding the Trauma of Others

Doing Therapy, EMDR1 Comment

If You Chase It, It Will Run

March 28, 2018April 27, 2018 Thomas Zimmerman

EMDR Therapy reprocessing involves three central components: you activate a traumatic memory, notice what comes up as you interact with the memory, and you do this while your brain receives a left-right stimulation.  Noticing is the bright yellow line in … Continue reading If You Chase It, It Will Run

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