EMDR for Birth Trauma at Mother Nature Psychology
‘Birth Trauma’: The emergence of a baby from a mother in a way that involves events or care which cause deep distress or psychological disturbance, which may or may not involve physical injury but result in psychological distress of an enduring nature.
– Mari Greenfield, 2016
Traumatic Birth Memories
Traumatic memories have the potential to impact your bonding with your baby, especially if the memories are related to the baby’s birth. Unfortunately, the statistics in Australia for traumatic experiences related to birth are very high with 1 in 3 woman postnatally in this category.
At Mother Nature Psychology, we offer EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) for women who have traumatic memories from their birth experience. EMDR has been shown to be one of the most effective treatments to reduce the intensity and distress of traumatic memories including birth trauma.
EMDR can be more effective with slightly longer sessions and this may be arranged in collaboration with you for a 90 minute appointment. EMDR treatment has been shown to be just as successful online as EMDR treatment in person for reducing the impact of traumatic memories and post traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
Benefits of EMDR
EMDR is a non intrusive treatment in which talking about the details of your trauma is not necessary. Birth-related trauma can affect women in a variety of ways and some of the symptoms that EMDR can resolve include:
Intrusive thoughts, images and nightmares about events connected to the birth.
Distress associated with reminders of the birth.
Avoidance of feared situations.
Problems connecting with or enjoying their baby.
Hyper-vigilance with health and safety.
Self-blame, feelings of inadequacy as a mother, feeling body has failed or is faulty.
Increased distress around baby’s sleep and settling.
Fears around intimacy and / or incontinence.
Anxiety around future pregnancy and birth