EMDR Therapy in Arvada

What EMDR is

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured therapy recommended in American Psychological Association and World Health Organization guidelines for treating trauma. Our brains can get "stuck" on experiences, memories, or feelings. Because the experience never finished processing, everyday reminders keep setting it off, bringing up fear, shame, or anger that understanding alone doesn't settle.

In EMDR, you briefly focus on a memory while your therapist guides bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, taps, or tones. This helps your brain reprocess the memory, so it becomes a part of your past instead of something that keeps happening now.

Signs EMDR could help

• Memories, images, or nightmares that intrude when you don't want them
• Feeling on edge, jumpy, or unsafe after something that happened
• Avoiding places, people, or activities that remind you of an event
• Strong reactions that feel bigger than the situation in front of you
• Beliefs about yourself that feel stuck, like "I'm not safe" or "It was my fault"
• Fear or hesitation after an injury, crash, or mistake in your sport or work

What sessions look like

EMDR follows a clear sequence. First, your therapist learns your history and goals and helps you build skills for calming your body and staying grounded. Only then do you begin reprocessing, one memory at a time, at a pace you choose. Each session ends with steps to help you feel settled before you leave. Over time, the memories you work on lose their charge, and the beliefs attached to them often shift on their own.

EMDR for performance and return to sport

EMDR isn't only for trauma. Athletes, performers, and professionals use it to reprocess injuries, crashes, public mistakes, and performances that went wrong, so fear and hesitation stop getting in the way. It can support return to sport after injury and help with slumps, the yips, choking, and stage fright, alongside mental skills training. EMDR for performance is self-⁠pay, unless the work is treating trauma. See EMDR for performance.

Who provides EMDR here

Dr. Ricki Walker, a licensed psychologist, and Kaela Little, MA, LPC, CMPC both offer EMDR. Kaela's experience includes first responders and athletes, and both bring sport and performance backgrounds for clients whose trauma is tied to injury or high-⁠pressure work.

EMDR questions