You can email me, or call me at (501) 551-6088 to set up a personal consultation or for more information on my services.
Because I do not have a receptionist and I do not answer the phone during sessions, you will generally need to leave me a message when you call. In addition to your name and number, please leave a brief detailed message and two or three times during the day when I will be able to reach you so we don't end up playing phone tag. I do my best to return calls received during business hours on the same day of the call. Calls received after 5:00 p.m. on Friday, over the weekend, or on holidays will generally be returned the next business day. E-mail is also a reliable way to contact me and I will generally respond the same or the next business day.
In case of emergency, please go to your nearest emergency room or call 911. You can also call a crisis intervention hotline toll-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at: 1-888-274-7472 or 1-800-273-8255.
My clinic is at 401 West Capitol, Ste 301 (on the corner of Capitol and Broadway).
The building is connected to the Metropolitan Tower building. There is a short side of the building that has 7 floors. You can park on the street on Capitol, Spring, or 6th. When you enter the building, look for the bank called US BANK and go to the elevators next to that bank. If the elevators go further than 7 floors, you are on the wrong set. My clinic is located on the 3rd floor.
401 W. Capitol Avenue, Suite 301
Little Rock, AR 72201
EMDR (stands for: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) works by not only addressing the immediate cause of distress, but also by accessing those “channel memories” fueling and intensifying the immediate cause. It allows one to “clean out” these channels and then to essentially neutralize the target trauma. The end result is that the target trauma will cease to illicit feelings of anxiety and anything we experience that reminds us of the trauma will cease to trigger anxiety, as well.
EMDR is based on an Adaptive Information Processing Model, which essentially just means reordering memories and information in our minds in a way that is healthy for us and allows us to become “unstuck” mentally and emotionally. The therapy uses dual processing—both mental and emotional processing—by combining various elements of more traditional “talk” therapies with methods of activating regions of the brain controlling both logical and emotional processing at once. This is important because when trauma occurs, our thinking brains are essentially temporarily muted (our minds may feel like that have gone blank) so that the sympathetic nervous system (via fight or flight hormones) can take over and do their job to try to protect us quickly. We experience fear and anxiety, but not a lot of actual thinking takes place. What that means is that since the traumas are experienced primarily through our emotions and in our bodies, the memories of trauma are actually primarily stored there, too, rather than in our thinking brains. So it is difficult to get to the trauma through the thinking brain, as we might do in more traditional kinds of “talk therapies,” because it really doesn’t live there.
That’s where the dual processing, using bilateral stimulation element comes in. It is believed that since the right side of the body is hardwired to the left side of the brain, and vice versa, if we stimulate alternate sides of the body while focusing on traumatic memories, we can bring about both logical and emotional/symbolic processing at the same time and get to the trauma where it lives.
When the therapy was first developed, eye movements back and forth were used to replicate the stage of sleep—Rapid Eye Movement or REM—during which memory consolidation is thought to take place. As the therapy continued to be explored and developed, tactile and auditory stimulation were found to be similarly effective. So while the therapy has kept its original name: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, we actually use a variety of types of bilateral stimulation to bring about bilateral processing. We use back and forth eye-movements, use of tappers held in each hand that vibrate gently back and forth, the use of alternating tones through headphones, or sometimes combinations of these.
I believe in a strength-based perspective to psychotherapy. In all of my experience in this field, I have never ceased to be awed and inspired by the power of the human mind and spirit. I have complete faith and belief in their power to heal themselves given the opportunity and the right tools. I believe in a collaborative relationship between therapist and client. I believe my role as your therapist is to provide you with the opportunity, support, and tools to bring about inner healing and strengthening in a warm, comfortable, safe, respectful environment. I understand the courage involved in seeking help from others and feel privileged to be a part of the personal journeys of those with whom I work.