At NATIVation Counseling, we believe therapy should be both clinical and ceremonial. We honor the science of trauma healing while centering the spirit of Indigenous traditions. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a widely respected trauma therapy—but in our hands, it becomes more than a technique. It becomes a renaming ceremony: a sacred space where clients shed the labels given by trauma and reclaim the truths of who they are.
When rooted in cultural practice, through smudging, tobacco offerings, and connection to land, spirit, and ancestors, EMDR transforms into a holistic experience of healing. It restores balance not just to the brain, but to the whole self: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual.
Not sure where to start? We’re here. Healing is personal. Reach out to find the support, safety, and ceremony you need to begin again.
The Medicine Wheel: A Holistic Framework for Trauma Healing
In Western clinical terms, trauma dysregulates the nervous system, often described using the “window of tolerance” model. When that window shrinks, clients swing between states of hyperarousal (panic, anger, anxiety) and hypoarousal (numbness, dissociation, shutdown).
At NATIVation, we reframe this using the Medicine Wheel, a sacred framework representing the interconnected aspects of human life:
- Physical – body, sensation, breath, and movement
- Emotional – feeling, expression, grief, joy
- Intellectual – thoughts, meanings, core beliefs
- Spiritual – connection to Creator, ancestors, land, and purpose
Trauma pulls us out of balance—fragmenting our experience. Healing through the Medicine Wheel means restoring wholeness across all these dimensions. Where the window of tolerance offers regulation, the Medicine Wheel offers restoration.
The Neuroscience of Balance Meets Ceremony
Trauma has a well-documented neurological footprint:
- The amygdala becomes hyperactive, constantly scanning for danger
- The hippocampus misfiles memories, making the past feel like it’s still happening
- The prefrontal cortex, responsible for rational thought and safety cues, goes offline
EMDR activates both hemispheres of the brain through bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or auditory cues), helping traumatic memories shift from raw survival mode into integrated narrative memory.
But when practiced within a cultural context, EMDR becomes more than clinical:
- Physical: Clients ground in the body and find breath
- Emotional: Feelings move without overwhelm
- Intellectual: Old beliefs give way to deeper truths
- Spiritual: The client reconnects with identity, culture, and ancestral strength
Here, neuroscience meets ceremony, and healing becomes a full-body, full-spirit experience.
The Sacred Power of Naming
In many Indigenous traditions, names are sacred. They carry prayers, honor lineage, and speak to vision, transformation, and identity. A name is never just a label, it is medicine.
In trauma, people often internalize false names: worthless, unlovable, broken, powerless. These are not truths. They are distortions imposed by violence, colonization, and systemic harm.
At NATIVation, EMDR becomes a renaming ceremony. Clients are invited to release the names trauma gave them and reclaim the ones that reflect their true spirit:
“I am not broken. I am the carrier of wisdom and strength.”
“I am not powerless. I walk with the strength of my ancestors.”
This isn’t just reprocessing. It’s reclamation.
How Renaming Works in EMDR Sessions
Standard EMDR involves identifying a negative cognition, a belief like “I’m not safe” or “I’m not enough”, and reprocessing it until a positive cognition feels true, such as “I survived” or “I am strong.”
At NATIVation, we build on this by anchoring the process in ancestral wisdom and spirit identity:
- Negative Cognition: “I am powerless.”
- Renaming Statement: “I am the living continuation of my ancestors’ resilience.”
We believe healing must reach beyond cognition. It must return the client to the truth of who they are—a sacred being, not a diagnosis.
Bringing Ceremony Into the Therapy Room
A session at NATIVation may include:
- Smudging to clear and bless the space
- Tobacco offerings to ground intention and honor sacred tradition
- Connection to the land and ancestors through guided visualizations, drumming, or breathwork
These practices aren’t extras—they’re essential to our decolonized therapy model. They support deep safety, regulation, and spiritual connection while respecting the cultural identity of each client.
What It Means to Decolonize EMDR
Western therapy models, including EMDR, were not created with Indigenous or BIPOC communities in mind. But thought leaders in psychology and healing are calling for change:
- The Touchstone Institute advocates for EMDR that centers cultural safety and systemic awareness
- Eduardo Duran (Healing the Soul Wound) reframes trauma as a spiritual injury passed through generations
- Harvard’s Hosny (2024) outlines methods to decolonize therapy across the Global South
- Lewis et al. (2018) promote clinician training rooted in cultural humility and decolonization
At NATIVation, we join these voices. We practice EMDR that is trauma-informed, culturally rooted, and spirit-connected.
Why This Approach Matters
Trauma is not just a psychological event—it’s a disruption to the entire self and the sacred connections we were born with. The messages of trauma and colonization—You are unworthy. You are broken. You are alone.—are false names that keep people stuck.
Our approach helps clients remember:
- You are not your trauma
- You are not the lies you were told
- You are not broken—you are sacred
Through the Medicine Wheel, ceremony, and renaming, healing becomes a return to truth, balance, and belonging.
Therapy as Sacred Reclamation
EMDR is a powerful tool for trauma recovery, but at NATIVation, it is also a sacred act of remembering who you are.
When held in ceremony, guided by the Medicine Wheel, and grounded in Indigenous values, EMDR becomes a renaming ceremony. It is a place where false names are released, and ancestral truths are reclaimed.
Therapy here isn’t just clinical. It’s cultural. It’s spiritual. It’s liberation.
Schedule a session to experience EMDR as a healing ceremony, not just a clinical tool.