Maria G. Masciandaro
About MeThe picture on the right represents life. As a favorite children’s story says, you can’t step into the river at the same place twice. Yet some people feel locked in repeating the same dysfunctional choices, hoping this time for a different result. Or perhaps they experienced a traumatic event and feel “triggered” by any image, sound, smell, or body sensation that echos what occurred in the past when they were hurt. The past is present. My focus is to help therapists learn how to help these people move forward.
All therapies work and no therapy works. It is a quest for the optimal match between client, therapist and orientation. It takes readiness on the part of the client to risk change, skill on the part of the therapist to have a robust framework, and research to inform the necessary alterations in any approach.
My training has allowed me to value the input of many incredible clinicians and researchers and to adopt the method which I believe is the most adaptable to a variety of client personality constellations, therapeutic issues and environmental constraints. My specialization is in the area of “recent” trauma, defined not by the calendar but by the brain of the client. Because some of our clients bring to the present, the trauma from the past, in fragmented, intense sensory awareness and emotional reactions. As a classically trained EMDR therapist I know this requires a specialized approach.
Elan Shapiro from Israel developed the protocols that I use most often and that I now teach. RTEP/GTEP. These protocols are explained on the home page for the interested clinician. For someone looking for a clinician I refer you to the www.EMDRIA.org website where you can search for a clinician in your geographic area.
We are living in an incredible time where the mind/body connection is no longer a hypothesis but understood through research emerging from biology, neurology and psychology. We are learning more about how memories are linked and how to create an optimal environment where they can be “updated” such that we live no longer live in the past but in the present. We can help individuals recognize their resilience and build the skills to persevere through the next curve ball life throws.
Contact me for upcoming trainings and events