Danielle Deike LISW-S

We all have a story. Telling your story to an attuned listener can be transformational. Telling your story can rewire your brain. Letting another welcome parts of you you’ve been afraid to reveal can be healing. I believe digging deep into ourselves and learning how our early relationships in life impact our present coping strategies and feelings can help us move towards the future we want.

We all have a story. Telling your story to an attuned listener can be transformational. Telling your story can rewire your brain. Letting another welcome parts of you you’ve been afraid to reveal can be healing. The storyteller can become more connected to themselves as the listener connects to them. Telling the story of the experience requires that your brain link your thoughts about the story (left brain) with your feelings about the story (right brain). EMDR is a great place to start.

Recent brain research shows we can retrain our brains to reduce anxiety and worrying. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can increase brain neuroplasticity and suggests how you can make changes when your brain is wired for anxiety.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective, evidence-based therapeutic treatment that utilizes Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) to help the brain unblock, process and re-process memories that are maladaptive and distressing. BLS can be utilized through the use of eye movements-- similar to REM cycle sleep eye movements, tapping, or auditory tones so that both the right and left region of the brain may work together to reprocess and heal distressing thoughts and memories.

Healing is a collaborative endeavor. We were born into relationships, possibly hurt and traumatized by relationships, and need relationships to heal. Your past is more connected to your present than you might be aware. Exploring your first relationships and attachments can help inform where you may be stuck in the present.

Any event or experience that had a person feel like they were at risk of dying is trauma. Most of us experience “little t” trauma. Little t traumas may not be a matter of life or death, but our brains and bodies are still put in a similar “survival" mode. Identify Big T and little t traumas in your life. Then they can help you resolve any lasting impact of those traumas through traditional talk therapy, or a more specialized therapy such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).