107: EMDR for Perinatal Mental Health with Bethany Warren, LCSW

Are there experiences in your life that you just can’t “get past”? We all have those memories that seem to crop up again and again, bringing anxiety, depression, and other effects. What if these memories are tied to a pregnancy or postpartum experience? You can see how this might be difficult for a woman to work through on her own. Even traditional talk therapy is not always effective at clearing through these feelings. Today we are discussing the benefits of using a therapy model called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to help women.

Bethany Warren has been interested in this modality as a treatment for some time and has a passion for women’s mental health issues. She has worked in this field for 20 years, specializing in Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders, also working with women who experienced birth trauma, pregnancy loss, infertility, adoption, and surrogacy. She is certified in EMDR and the trauma processing lens and attachment model guides most of her work with clients. She is passionate about coaching and guiding parents through their adjustment to new roles and assisting women who have children with medical and other health-related issues. She has worked in hospital and outpatient psychiatric settings and is now in a group private practice. Bethany serves on boards and community organizations that promote women’s health and wellness. She is also an adjunct professor at a local university in San Diego and supervises clinicians working toward their licenses. 

Show Highlights:

• EMDR has been used mainly in treating veterans with PTSD, but now is a tool found to be useful in many areas, including maternal mental health
• The connection between EMDR and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep
• The differences in memories that have been fully processed and those that are “free floating”
• The statistics: 12% of pregnant women and 9% of postpartum women meet the PTSD criteria, and 34% of women report having a traumatic birth experience
• How EMDR has impacted Bethany’s practice with more insight-oriented therapy that processes memories the way the brain already knows to do
• The components of EMDR therapy include eye movement, tapping, and headsets with sounds—these can be used separately or in combination
• These tools are used to process memories and negative beliefs in the correct part of the brain
• How does it help? “The memory becomes unstuck”
• For the therapist, treatment involves less talking and more observing
• How the therapy works without making clients “take a trauma bath” in the experience they’ve learned to avoid
• EMDR does NOT involve sitting with a therapist and talking through your traumatic experiences
• My personal experience with the power of EMDR therapy in getting past stuck feelings and deep-rooted traumas
• How EMDR helps with early attachment repair, early memories of shame and failure, and repeated harmful patterns
• The leading researchers on EMDR: Carol Forgash, Amy Robbins, Andrew Leeds, and Claire Stamrood
• Bethany’s advice: Find a trained and certified EMDR therapist
• Those who should NOT do EMDR include anyone who is psychotic or currently using substances or is in current chaotic circumstances
• Hopeful messages of success in how clients have responded and been able to move past the things they never thought they could

Resources:

Bethany’s website: http://balancehealth.org/therapist_bethany_warren.html

Follow Bethany on Instagram: @bethanywarrenlcsw

http://www.birthtraumaassociation.org.uk

http://www.emdria.org/ EMDR International Association

http://pattch.org  Prevention and Treatment of Traumatic Birth

http://www.solaceformothers.org  Solace for Mothers after Traumatic Birth

http://tabs.org.nz  Trauma and Birth Stress