My Experience as a Therapist Using Lifespan Integration
I trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients heal from trauma and reclaim emotional well-being. From the start, I saw how quickly EMDR could reduce suffering—both in my clients and in myself, as I participated in the process during training. The effectiveness of EMDR immediately drew me in, and I’ve been passionate about using this research-backed method ever since. I preached EMDR to everyone that I knew, and every client that I thought could benefit from it. I used EMDR with clients for approximately 6 years and loved the results that most of my clients.
After about five years of using EMDR with clients, I experienced Lifespan Integration (LI) for the first time through my own therapy. As a natural skeptic, I remember thinking, “Like this is going to work” during my first session—cue the eye roll. But after just 35 minutes of working through one of the most painful losses of my life, I felt noticeably better on the drive home. I assumed the relief wouldn’t last. To my surprise, the healing stuck. Years later, that experience still doesn’t trigger the same symptoms it once did. That session changed my life in profound ways. Because of how powerful it was, I decided to pursue LI training myself so I could offer this gentle, effective method to my own clients.
I began my training for Lifespan Integration, and although I loved the results and everything about the framework was making sense to me, I was afraid to let go of EMDR because it, too had been a catalyst for great health for many of my clients over time. I had witnessed its magical process so many times, that I struggled to begin any of my clients in LI.
It took me about one year after I began training for LI to begin implementing it with clients. I decided that I would begin implementing LI with some clients who, by self-report, struggled to remain regulated emotionally in between EMDR sessions. These clients took to it. They no longer struggled to emotionally regulate in between sessions, and experienced more regulation during session as well. It felt like a miracle, as the EMDR process was significantly slower with several of my clients, due to emotional regulation struggles, so to have a new technique that helped clients feel more grounded and less dysregulated, I could no longer fear placing my trust in it. I began using LI with several more clients, for various experiences of trauma as well as for attachment repair.
For the past 3 years I have been fully utilizing Lifespan Integration with my clients and have seen incredible results. Incredible alleviation of years and sometimes decades of suffering due to life experiences and attachment wounds. Alleviation of fear. Incredible alleviation of once-held negative self-concept.
I am very grateful for everything that EMDR taught me, for how it benefitted my clients and for the miracles that I witnessed in behalf of my clientele. It is an incredible tool that helps many. It was a beautiful place to begin my intensive trauma work with clients. At first, I had questions about using Lifespan Integration (LI) instead of EMDR—but over time, those concerns were eased. Now, I love using this gentler approach to help clients heal attachment wounds and find relief from emotional distress.”
Although I CAN still use my EMDR skill set, I have not found the need to. Lifespan Integration does everything and more, in my clinical and observational opinion. So, at Vibrant Life Therapy in American Fork, I now utilize LI with the majority of my clients to assist them in their healing from a wide variety of life experiences, and I haven’t looked back.
For more information on these two methods please see:
https://lifespanintegration.com/
https://www.vibrantlifetherapyutah.com/2025/06/06/comparing-lifespan-integration-and-emdr/
