Hilary Bierly, LCSW

I have worked in the field for 30+ years in a variety of settings from mental health agencies and hospitals to the public school system. My original training was in "Family Systems" theory and therapy but in 2017 I became trainined in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) which is an evidence-based therapy for the treatment of trauma. However, EMDR has been found to be an effective treatment for MOST mental health issues and conditions, even in helping atheletes enhance performance. Since being trained and certified, my approach has shifted in the way I understand and treat symptom & problems. In EMDR therapy, we look for how "unprocessed" past adverse life experiences may still be affecting you in the present with the ultimate goal of adaptive information processing. Similar to what we do in CBT, there is a lot of 'talking' and identifying negative thoughts about oneself, such as "I am not good enough," "I have to be perfect and please everyone" or "it is not safe to express myself." In stand alone talk therapy, you identify the negative thoughts and challenge yourself to think differently. In EMDR therapy we find the root causes (experiences) of these beliefs and dismantle them, leading to a more positive belief. EMDR is a comprehensive treatment approach. In this therapy, there is a phase of treatment called "memory reprocessing." This is what most people think of when they hear of EMDR; and they mistake it for a technique. In this phase we target specific memories that are locked in the brain, causing one to have negative beliefs about themselves and the world. The goal of this treatment is to help facilitate the brains innate ability to process information and heal from past experiences. This is a brain based therapy based on the "Adaptive information processing" model. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22641-emdr-therapy Whether you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, low self-esteem or relationship difficulties, my hope is that together we can discover the root causes that are affecting your beliefs, emotions and behaviors in the present. I APOLOGIZE BUT I AM NOT ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS AT THIS TIME.