How EMDR Therapy Helps Change Negative Beliefs for Women in Salt Lake City, Utah
As an EMDR therapist working with women in Salt Lake City, Utah, I work with many women who don’t necessarily see themselves as having “trauma,” yet carry deep, painful beliefs about themselves. Beliefs like I’m not good enough, I’m a failure, or it’s my fault. These beliefs often didn’t come from one obvious event, but from years of experiences where they felt unsafe, unseen, blamed, or not enough.
You don’t have to label your past as trauma to recognize that certain experiences shaped how you see yourself today. When those experiences aren’t processed, they tend to live on in the nervous system and show up as anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, shame, disordered eating, or a constant feeling of being “on edge.”
EMDR therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a powerful way to help your brain reprocess those experiences so the negative beliefs tied to them can finally shift. Rather than just talking about why you feel the way you do, EMDR helps your nervous system update old emotional memories so you can begin to feel safer, more grounded, and more compassionate toward yourself.
Common Negative Core Beliefs EMDR Can Target
Everyone has a different way of saying the negative belief they have about themselves, and language is important in connecting with the negative beliefs. Here are some of the common negative beliefs that I see that come up when using EMDR:
I’m not good enough
I’m a failure
I’m unworthy
I’m dirty
I’m disgusting
It’s all my fault
I’m unloveable
I’m powerless
I’m helpless
I have no control
I’m weak
I’m damaged/broken
I’m stupid
I’m a burden
I’ll never be ok
How EMDR Therapy Changes Negative Beliefs and Thought Patterns
Our negative thoughts might come in themes that come from the negative beliefs we hold to about ourselves. EMDR therapy can help negative thoughts by processing the negative beliefs that they are connected to. Negative beliefs that influence negative thoughts come from past negative experiences that can impact depression, anxiety, disordered eating, and other mental health issues. Negative beliefs impact our self-esteem and the negative things we tell ourselves. Through EMDR therapy, you are guided through a past experience when you remember believing the negative belief about yourself using bilateral stimulation such as tapping, eye movements, or sounds. EMDR can help you process an experience and belief about yourself that you may never have done so effectively. This therapeutic experience helps you see yourself more accurately and in a more helpful way. You can think and feel better about yourself as a result of EMDR.
How EMDR Therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah Helps Reprocess Painful Beliefs
EMDR therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah, helps clients reprocess painful experiences that formed beliefs like “I’m not enough,” or “It was my fault,” so those beliefs no longer feel true in the body and nervous system.
If you’ve been struggling with how you feel about yourself, it can be changed. You might believe that this negative belief is true and shouldn’t be changed but the truth is that it can and should be changed. You are able to be a better version of yourself when you can let go of those painful experiences that may have led you to think of yourself as less than you are. Through EMDR therapy you can see situations and experiences in a different light. You can start to feel more neutral about what’s happened and not feel such strong emotions. EMDR therapy has the power to free you from experiences you never thought possible.
Start EMDR Therapy for Negative Beliefs in Salt Lake City, Utah
Start EMDR Therapy for Negative Beliefs in Salt Lake City, Utah
If you’ve spent years carrying beliefs like “I’m not enough,” “I’m broken,” “It was my fault,” or “I’m too much,” it can feel like those thoughts are simply part of who you are. But these beliefs often formed in moments when your nervous system was overwhelmed, unsafe, or trying to make sense of painful experiences. They are learned — and they can be unlearned.
In EMDR therapy in Salt Lake City, Utah, we work to gently reprocess the experiences that shaped these beliefs so your brain and body can update them. Rather than just talking about why you feel the way you do, EMDR helps your nervous system release the emotional charge stored in old memories, allowing new, more accurate beliefs about yourself to take root.
I provide EMDR through secure online therapy for clients in Salt Lake City and across Utah, making it possible to do this work even if you don’t have access to an EMDR therapist in your immediate area. Online EMDR uses bilateral stimulation in a way that is safe, effective, and comparable to in-person treatment.
I work with clients in Salt Lake City and across Utah through secure online EMDR therapy, including those in Provo, Logan, Ogden, St. George, Cedar City, and surrounding areas.
To begin:
We’ll talk about the beliefs you’re struggling with and what you want to feel different
If it feels like a good fit, we’ll begin EMDR therapy together
You don’t have to keep living under the weight of beliefs that were shaped by pain rather than truth. Healing is possible, and you deserve to experience yourself differently.
Other Therapy Services at Maple Canyon Therapy in Utah
EMDR therapy isn’t the only counseling service provided at this Utah Counseling Center. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include eating disorder therapy, body image therapy, anxiety therapy, binge eating disorder treatment, counseling for college students, and birth trauma therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to see how I can help.
About the Author
Ashlee Hunt, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and the founder of Maple Canyon Therapy. She is trained in EMDR through EMDRIA and specializes in working with women who struggle with trauma, anxiety, disordered eating, and deeply rooted negative beliefs such as “I’m not enough,” “It’s my fault,” or “I’m broken.”
Ashlee works with clients in Salt Lake City and throughout Utah via online therapy, helping them process painful experiences that continue to shape how they see themselves and the world. Her approach is trauma-informed, relational, and grounded in the belief that symptoms are not flaws, but protective responses that can be gently and safely reprocessed.
In her work, Ashlee uses EMDR to help clients move beyond intellectual insight and into nervous-system healing, so that old memories lose their emotional charge and new, more compassionate beliefs can take hold. She is passionate about helping women feel safer in their bodies, more grounded in their sense of worth, and less controlled by shame or self-blame.
When she’s not in session, Ashlee enjoys spending time with her husband and their two Goldendoodles and exploring Utah’s natural beauty.