Individual Therapy

Avance Care Behavioral Health accepts most commercial insurance plans. When you request an appointment, one of our Patient Coordinators will verify your insurance coverage and advise you of your co-pay.

EMDR therapy is available at select locations and virtual visits. Contact us to find out if your preferred Avance Care offers EMDR therapy.

EMDR is effective for all individuals of all ages who struggle with mental health and well-being due to trauma, depression, anxiety, and many other conditions. It is a fantastic option for those who have reached the point in their healing journey where they feel stable enough and ready to do an emotional deep-dive into the challenges they face and hardships they have been through.

EMDR is an evidence based treatment that has been in use for over 20 years. The EMDR International Association is a good source of information about the research on EMDR.

Avance Care EMDR therapists use both eye movement bilateral stimulation (BLS) and other forms like tactile and auditory BLS. Therapists work with clients to identify the best forms of BLS to use based on their unique needs and circumstances.

Yes. Special precautions will need to be taken in these cases, including the possibility of being referred for an official Neurological Assessment to ensure that all physical health needs are met and assessed, and EMDR is approved by the Neurologist.

The biggest contraindication for EMDR is having active legal situations (law enforcement reports, attorney interviews, court appearances, witness testimony, trials, etc.) related to the subject matter that the client is wanting to work on in therapy. EMDR has the potential to permanently alter memories, which could harm the outcome of related legal proceedings if the therapy is utilized while legal situations the client is involved with are still active. EMDR will NOT be used in this circumstance.

Other possible contraindications include: current or past substance abuse, history of traumatic brain injuries, current or past seizures, use of prescribed benzodiazepine medications, and medical conditions, injuries, or pain in the eyes. All of these circumstances are important to discuss with the EMDR therapist during the intake process so that they can assess appropriateness and/or readiness for EMDR on a case-by-case basis. There is a chance that the EMDR therapist will refer clients to other treatment or evaluations in these circumstances prior to beginning EMDR treatment or rule out EMDR as an appropriate therapy based on their assessment of the case.

Just like with any form of psychotherapy, and particularly trauma therapies, there may be a temporary increase in distress during the therapy process. A good way to think of this is “things get worse before they get better,” and examples of this include:

Distressing and unresolved memories could come up in between sessions.
Some clients may experience unanticipated trauma-related reactions during a treatment session, including a high level of emotion or physical sensation.
The client’s processing of incidents/trauma-related information may continue even after treatment sessions, and other dreams, memories, feelings, etc., could come up in between sessions.

Therapists work with clients in the beginning of and throughout the EMDR process, to ensure that they have the coping mechanisms and self-soothing tools needed to cope with these possible effects.