EMDR Works on What's Happening NOW—Here's Why That Changes Everything | Alice Stricklin

Your nervous system was never working against you. Every survival response you developed -- the freeze, the shutdown, the hypervigilance -- served a purpose. It helped you make it. EMDR therapist Alice Stricklin joins Brooke to break down how trauma actually gets stored in the body, why it gets stuck, and what it really takes to process it. This is not a conversation about reliving the past. It's a conversation about finally being free in the present.Content NotesThis episode discusses PTSD, complex trauma, childhood trauma, nervous system dysregulation, survival responses, dissociation, and suicidal ideation (briefly referenced by Brooke in the context of her own healing journey). Listener discretion is advised.Timestamps 00:00  EMDR is not about the past01:37  Meet Alice Stricklin02:24  What EMDR is and how it was discovered 09:51  Your nervous system's survival responses: fight, flight, freeze, collapse 20:32  How trauma gets stored and stuck in the body 25:17  How EMDR works: the two memory networks explained 37:30  Bilateral stimulation: what actually happens in a session 44:50  The key to EMDR: staying in the present moment 47:27  What Alice wants every listener to knowConnect with Trauma UncensoredWebsite: traumauncensored.com Instagram: @traumauncensored YouTube: @traumauncensored TikTok: @traumauncensored Email the team: [email protected] Email Brooke: [email protected] the GuestAlice Stricklin is a licensed EMDR therapist with 17 years of clinical experience specializing in complex PTSD, trauma, and nervous system dysregulation. She works with individuals who carry the weight of both early childhood trauma and adult traumatic experiences, helping them build the internal resources needed to process what got stuck. Alice approaches healing with deep respect for the ways people learned to survive, and her work centers on honoring those adaptations while helping the nervous system find new options. She is one of the practitioners recommended by Brooke's own EMDR therapist, Lori Hoven.Connect with Alice StricklinWebsite: https://www.alicestricklin.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063789169941# Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alicestricklincounseling/?hl=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQGPlsE834R0hUlh-2gYedAAbout the HostBrooke Scherer | Creator and HostBrooke Scherer is the creator and host of the Trauma Uncensored Podcast, where she leads honest, unfiltered conversations about trauma, grief, mental health, and healing. She is also a mother to Logan, Mallory, and Mila.In 2016, Brooke's world was shattered when her son Logan was killed by a distracted driver. In the silence that followed, she found a culture unequipped to talk about child loss, grief, and trauma in any honest way. That silence became her mission.Brooke built Trauma Uncensored to offer what she once needed most: A space to speak openly, without judgment, timelines, or expectation. Through her own story and conversations with survivors, mental health professionals, and others whose lives have been permanently altered, she reminds listeners they are not alone.She believes trauma permanently changes us, but it does not have to define the limits of our lives.IF THIS EPISODE HIT HOME: Subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who has ever been told their anxiety or reactions are "too much" without anyone asking what made them that way. WANT TO SHARE YOUR STORY? Reach out at [email protected] or email Brooke directly at [email protected] RESOURCES: If you're struggling with thoughts of suicide or know someone who is, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for free, confidential support, 24/7.If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or text "START" to 88788.