Life Development Institute (LDI) offers high school, summer leadership, and postsecondary education and transition-to-adulthood programming for adolescents and young adults who have learning disabilities (LD), non-verbal learning disabilities (NLD), Asperger’s syndrome, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and other social or learning differences.

As part of the mission and vision of LDI, great emphasis is placed upon offering the community valuable information through monthly Speaker Series events, open to anyone with an interest in the topic.  It is our hope that the information shared during these sessions will enable parents, family members, students, and other professionals to continue their lifelong learning and master skills necessary to succeed in life.

We were thrilled to welcome Wendy Moyer, LMFT in private practice, to share her thoughts and experiences in providing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to high functioning teens and adults with Asperger’s syndrome. Ms. Moyer explained that EMDR opens doors in the brain where communication of wants/needs through traditional talk therapy has been ineffective. Due to unresolved traumas, friendship conflicts, divorce, hyper-focused obsessiveness many clients often remain emotionally “stuck”, as they struggle to express their feelings in words, because the experience has not been processed to a point where the feelings can be put into words.

Many times, these individuals find themselves easily triggered or set off by seemingly unconnected things such as certain smells, sounds or visual stimuli that remind them of some aspect of the past life difficulty.  According to Wendy, EMDR promotes the ability for the brain to move beyond fight or flight reactions, and communicate at a higher, healthier level as the client becomes more cognitively able to sort out feelings and thoughts in a manner that helps them resolve these issues.

Wendy’s use of EMDR in reprogramming past experiences and installing healthy personal boundaries focuses a lot on bilateral stimulation (tapping, butterfly hug, self-regulating strategies) and Affect Scan, which helps them get to know where in their body one feels different emotions and learn to stay in body w/feelings and not detach from them.

The presentation concluded with Ms. Moyer offering some resources with which to build a toolbox of strategies and techniques dedicated helping teens and adults on the Spectrum or having dyslexia, anxiety, ADHD and similar disorders to feeling more in control of their life and life circumstances.

Her presentation can be downloaded here

Additionally, if you would like to learn more about Life Development Institute, please visit www.discoverldi.com, email info@discoverldi.com, or call 623-773-1545.