TRAUMA-INFORMED THERAPY
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is an evidence-based therapy that helps the brain process traumatic memories, releasing the grip of the past on your nervous system and restoring your capacity to live fully in the present.
After trauma, the world is experienced with a different nervous system — seen through a lens where the past's danger feels constantly present, making connection difficult but healing possible by engaging the body and present moment.
Bessel van der Kolk
UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA
Trauma doesn't just leave us with difficult memories or painful emotions. It fundamentally disrupts our relationship with ourselves. It can disconnect us from our bodies, making us feel numb or unsafe in our own skin. It can fragment our sense of identity, leaving us unsure of who we are. It can sever the thread of continuity between past and present, make us feel fundamentally changed in ways we never chose, and leave us grieving for the person we used to be — the life we had before.
This disconnection isn't a character flaw or a failure. It's a survival response. Your nervous system did what it needed to do to help you survive an overwhelming experience. But now, that same protective mechanism can keep you feeling separate from yourself and from life.
Here's what I want you to know: while you may not return to being exactly the person you were before trauma, you can become whole again. Not by erasing what happened or by going backwards, but by integrating your experience in a way that allows you to feel like yourself again — perhaps even more fully than before.
HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER
Gradually return to your body with safety and compassion. Develop the capacity to stay present with yourself, even when it's difficult.
Rebuild the sense of "being home" in your own experience. Reconnect with the awareness that has been present all along, even through trauma.
Process traumatic memories so they no longer hijack your present. Release the grip of the past on your nervous system.
Integrate fragmented parts of your experience into a coherent whole. Transform how your brain and body hold traumatic material.
Even when trauma makes you feel fundamentally changed, something essential remains. Your core capacity for awareness, your inherent wholeness, your fundamental nature — these haven't been destroyed, even when they've been buried under pain, fear, or disconnection.
Think of it like this: trauma is like a storm that swept through your inner landscape, uprooting trees, flooding valleys, changing the terrain. The landscape looks different now. But the ground itself — the foundation of who you are — is still there, beneath everything.
Healing isn't about returning the landscape to exactly how it was before the storm. It's about tending to what remains, honouring what was lost, and allowing something new to grow — something that incorporates both your strength and your scars.
You may not be the person you used to be. Trauma has changed you, and that's a reality worth acknowledging. But through mindfulness and EMDR, you can become someone who feels connected to your body again, who has access to your emotions without being overwhelmed by them, who can be present with yourself and others in a genuine way.
Someone who carries your history without being defined by it. Who knows a depth of resilience and self-compassion you didn't know was possible.
You're not going back to who you were. You're finding your way to who you are now — someone who has survived, who is healing, who is learning to inhabit their life again with presence and courage. The person you're becoming isn't broken or lesser. They're someone who knows what it means to fall apart and to slowly, tenderly, come back together. That's not a diminished version of yourself. That's a depth of being many people never access.
There's a Japanese art form called kintsugi — the practice of repairing broken pottery with gold. The cracks aren't hidden; they're highlighted, becoming part of the object's beauty and history. The repaired bowl is considered more valuable than the original, not despite the cracks, but because of them.
Your healing may follow a similar path. The places where you've been broken and are now mending — these don't make you less whole. They become part of your wholeness, integrated with compassion rather than shame.
You may not feel like the person you used to be. But moment by moment, breath by breath, through mindful awareness and trauma processing, you can find your way back to feeling like yourself — perhaps even more authentically than before.
You're not returning. You're arriving. And that arrival, however gradual, is something profound.
Take the first step towards healing with EMDR and mindfulness
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THE INTERPLAY
Chronic pain frequently coexists with mental health concerns, complex trauma, and PTSD, forming a complex and interdependent relationship. EMDR addresses the psychological factors that contribute to suffering.
MENTAL HEALTH
Conditions such as anxiety and depression often accompany chronic pain, amplifying distress. Psychological factors including negative emotions, stress, and maladaptive coping mechanisms can exacerbate pain perception and decrease pain tolerance.
COMPLEX TRAUMA
Complex trauma refers to prolonged or repeated exposure to traumatic events, often in interpersonal relationships such as childhood abuse or neglect. Individuals with this history may develop heightened physical and emotional sensitivities, including increased vulnerability to chronic pain.
PTSD & CHRONIC PAIN
PTSD involves persistent re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal following traumatic events. Chronic pain can be an embodiment of trauma, as the body holds memories and emotional imprints from past experiences. EMDR targets and resolves these emotional and cognitive aspects.
RESEARCH
Several studies have explored the effectiveness of EMDR in reducing chronic pain severity and improving overall well-being. While the exact mechanisms are not yet fully understood, EMDR is thought to modulate neural networks involved in pain perception and emotional processing.
A randomised controlled trial demonstrated that EMDR, when combined with standard medical treatment, resulted in significant reductions in chronic pain intensity compared to the control group.
Schneider, J., Hofmann, A., Rost, C., & Shapiro, F. (2017). Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 11(3), 113–125.
A systematic review and meta-analysis revealed that EMDR significantly reduced pain intensity and pain-related disability in individuals with chronic pain conditions.
Van der Vleugel, L. M., et al. (2018). European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9(1), 1472981.
A case study exploring the application of EMDR in fibromyalgia indicated a reduction in pain intensity, psychological distress, and fatigue after treatment.
Ignatius, R., & Smeets, R. J. (2020). Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 14(1), 17–27.
While further research is warranted, the existing evidence supports the integration of EMDR into comprehensive treatment plans for chronic pain management, addressing the psychological factors that contribute to suffering.
READ & LEARN
Articles, handouts, and information to deepen your understanding of EMDR therapy and trauma recovery.
WATCH
Selected videos to help you understand EMDR therapy, trauma, and the healing process.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM
The Window of Tolerance describes the range of emotions and physiological responses you can manage without becoming overwhelmed. Understanding your own window — and developing strategies to expand it — is central to trauma recovery.
The window of tolerance is dynamic — it can widen or narrow depending on factors such as stress levels, trauma history, resilience-building practices, and therapeutic progress. Practices such as mindfulness, regular physical activity, building a supportive social network, and seeking professional guidance can all help widen this window over time.
Window of Tolerance
Video explanation
How Can Trauma Affect Your Window of Tolerance?
NICABM Infographic — PDF
Resilience Test
How resilient am I? — Instant results
Brief Resilience Scale
Client assessment — results shared with Regina
Perceived Stress Scale
Client assessment — results shared with Regina
Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale
Client assessment — results shared with Regina
The Brief Resilience Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale are for current clients only. Results are shared directly with Regina Gerlach.
FURTHER SUPPORT
Trusted organisations, clinicians, and educational resources for understanding dissociation, trauma, and recovery.
Being Well — Dissociation, Emotional Shutdown & Creating Safety
Petals of a Rose
Dylan Crumpler — Vimeo
Dylan Crumpler
Petals of a Rose
An Infinite Mind
Beauty After Bruises
Blue Knot Foundation
Carolyn Spring
Reversing Adversity
Jamie Marich, PhD
Dissociation Made Simple
Institute for Creative Mindfulness
ISSTD
International Society for the Study of Trauma & Dissociation
Multiplied by One
The Plural Association
System Speak
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