You can recover!
We help people just like you throughout the Greater Orlando area restore psychological well-being in the event of a disaster.
Who we are
The Greater Orlando Trauma Recovery Network (TRN) is a collection of volunteer EMDR therapists (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) throughout Central Florida counties who provide pro bono counseling services to survivors of community-wide traumatic events. We were formed after the Pulse Nightclub shooting back in 2016, in an effort to combine the connections and capacities of local trauma therapists wanting to do what felt right for their community in a time of great grief. Since that time, we have continued to come to the aid of our Central Florida neighbors, as tragedies have continued to strike.
We are sponsored and coordinated at the national level by Trauma Recovery/EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs. Locally, the Greater Orlando TRN is a part of GOEMDRIAN: Greater Orlando EMDR International Association Regional Network.
How We Help
We provide up to five pro bono individual EMDR therapy sessions, as well as pro bono group EMDR therapy sessions in the event of a disaster. The TRN volunteers practice EMDR Therapy, which is an evidence-based psychotherapy that helps people and communities cope, recover, & heal. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
Current Activation
We are NOT currently activated to provide support to residents of the Greater Orlando community at this time. Check back to see if we are activated for community crises in the future.
Although we are not currently activated at this time, you can check back to see the current status of TRN activation here in the future. If we are activated for something, click here for help!
If you are an EMDR Trained Therapist and would like to help members of the Greater Orlando area, click here to sign up!
Past Community TRN Responses
- Pulse Nightclub Mass Shooting (2016)
- Hurricane Michael (2016)
- Hurricane Irma (2017)
- Hurricane Maria (2017)
- Murder of George Floyd (2020)
- ROA Rowing Tragedy (2022)
- Hurricane Ian (2022)
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a cost-effective non-invasive evidence-based method of psychotherapy that facilitates adaptive information processing. It was developed by Francine Shapiro, PhD in the late 1980s. EMDR is an eight-phase treatment which comprehensively identifies and addresses experiences that have overwhelmed the brain’s natural resilience or coping capacity, and have thereby generated traumatic symptoms and/or harmful coping strategies. Through EMDR therapy, patients are able to reprocess traumatic information until it is no longer psychologically disruptive.
Efficacy and Treatment
EMDR therapy has been listed as an effective treatment by the American Psychiatric Association, Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the World Health Organization, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services and numerous other international agencies.
More than a dozen studies support the use of EMDR therapy for trauma resulting from natural disasters and treatment of war- and terrorism-related trauma.
EMDR therapy has a positive impact on intrusive imagery (such as nightmares and flashbacks), numbing, and hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD, as well as on associated grief and depression.
In several direct comparisons with cognitive-behavioral therapy, EMDR offers equivalent effects more quickly (fewer sessions and/or no homework), process analyses indicate less distress for individuals undergoing treatment.