Trauma - EMDR Certified
I am an EMDR certified therapist. If you are struggling with a childhood trauma or a present day trauma, please contact me. I can help you heal from the disturbances caused by trauma or trauma-related events.
Meet Our Doctor:
Barbara L. Fraser MA, MAT, LPC
After a career in public education as a special needs teacher, I returned to graduate school and earned a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology in 2011 from University of Denver. I am a Colorado licensed professional counselor. Also, I am EMDR certified and fully trained as a Grief Recovery® Specialist.
I earned a Master's Degree in Teaching from Tufts University and a Certificate in Advanced Educational Study from Boston College. I have an undergraduate degree in English Literature from St. Lawrence University.
I am passionate about mental health and strive to ...
Frequently Asked Questions
No one knows how any form of psychotherapy works neurobiologically or in the brain. However, we do know that when a person is very upset, their brain cannot process information as it does ordinarily. One moment becomes "frozen in time," and remembering a trauma may feel as bad as going through it the first time because the images, sounds, smells, and feelings haven’t changed. Such memories have a lasting negative effect that interferes with the way a person sees the world and the way they relate to other people.
EMDR seems to have a direct effect on the way that the brain processes information. Normal information processing is resumed, so following a successful EMDR session, a person no longer relives the images, sounds, and feelings when the event is brought to mind. You still remember what happened, but it is less upsetting. Many types of therapy have similar goals. However, EMDR appears to be similar to what occurs naturally during dreaming or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Therefore, EMDR can be thought of as a physiologically based therapy that helps a person see disturbing material in a new and less distressing way.
(www.EMDRIA.org)