No matter how far gone someone may feel mentally, Minden-based psychotherapist Kelsey Sharpless believes there’s always a way back.
Since opening her practice in 2022, Sharpless has worked with approximately 250 people, helping them through their struggles to establish a new baseline for their mental health.
She has a fresh tool in her arsenal after recently launching eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. The method was pioneered in the late 1980s by U.S. psychologist Dr. Francine Shapiro and has become a popular treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other ailments, Sharpless said.
“This is a very well-researched and validated therapy that helps people primarily recovery from trauma. The cool thing about EMDR is that it’s so different to other therapies,” she said. “It relies on a client’s brain’s natural ability to heal.”
The EMDR International Association say the process involves communication between the amygdala – the alarm signal in the brain for stressful events; the hippocampus, which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger; and the prefrontal cortex, which analyzes and controls behaviour and emotion.
It does not require patients talking in detail about the distressing issue, with Sharpless saying all she needs is a “headline”, such as car accident or traumatic incident, to get people thinking.
“They bring an image to mind and we work from there. Not having to talk about the incident can be really appealing to some people,” she said.
As the name suggests, the therapy is all about movement, specifically bilateral stimulation.
“So, going back and forth from the left to right side of your body… it doesn’t just need to be eye movements, it can also be things like tapping yourself left to right, using buzzers in your left and right hand or using sounds through headphones,” Sharpless said.
Before utilizing EMDR, Sharpless said it’s important to establish all stressors in someone’s life. As well as traumatic memories, that also includes phobias and negative opinions about themselves. These bring on stress responses such as fight, flight or freeze, which create feelings of overwhelm, being back in the moment, or feeling frozen in time.
“EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories and allows normal healing to resume. The experience is still remembered, but the response from the original event is resolved,” Sharpless said.
She started training in EMDR in January and has already worked with a “handful” of her existing clients. As well as PTSD and childhood trauma, she said the method is also effective for helping with anxiety, depression, chronic pain, eating disorders and addiction.
Sessions last one hour, though Sharpless said the number people will need to see improvement varies case-by-case. She noted EMDR is known to help people in fewer sessions compared to other therapies, though.
“Just because it’s very effective at getting right to the root of the issue,” Sharpless said.
Mental health week
May 4 to 10 is ‘Mental Health Week’ in Ontario and Sharpless believes it’s an important dedication given the rise in mental health crises since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m glad it’s at the forefront and is being talked about… there’s a lot of people who are struggling. There are a lot of people reaching out for more help now, which is a great thing.
“It’s important to continue the conversation… people do not need to feel shame for seeking out therapy. It’s something everybody could use. We have all had distressing things happen to us in our lives. Sometimes it’s helpful to talk about it,” Sharpless said.
For more information, visit emdrcanada. ca.
