106: Therapy Isn’t Complete Until You Build This for Lasting Change [Why Women Go To Therapy]

In this powerful episode, we explore the four distinct phases of therapy—with a spotlight on the often-overlooked 4th phase that can transform your healing journey. Drawing from EMDR, Brainspotting, and somatic therapy, this conversation breaks down what most therapeutic models miss and offers a path forward for deeper healing, integration, and self-leadership.

🧠 Four Phases of Therapy:

1. Phase One – The Call to Heal:
   
   
• A felt sense or internal voice tells you, “Something’s not right.”
• Could show up as symptoms like panic attacks, IBS, migraines, or emotional overwhelm.
• Your nervous system is asking for help.
  
  
2. Phase Two – Naming What’s Happening:
   
   
• Identifying trauma, patterns, and beliefs.
• Going beyond content and symptoms to explore the underlying negative beliefs of self.
• Using frameworks like the EMDR Beliefs Inventory to understand "Am I safe?", "Am I good?" etc.
  
  
3. Phase Three – Understanding with Clarity:
   
   
• Realizing the root causes and integrating new understandings.
• Acceptance that positive beliefs of self likely won’t come from parents, society, or partners.
• Many end therapy here—but there’s more.
  
  
4. Phase Four – Building the Self-Led System:
   
   
• Actively cultivating and expanding positive beliefs of self.
• Working with brain-based therapies to create felt experiences of worth, safety, and power.
• This is the transformational, empowering phase often skipped.
  
  

🌱 Key Takeaways:

• You deserve all four phases—not just awareness and coping.
• Brain-based therapies like EMDR and Brainspotting can help lock in positive beliefs at a body level.
• You don’t have to stay stuck at “understanding.” You can build, reclaim, and expand into a fully actualized self.
  
  

Note: This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional therapy. If you’re experiencing difficulties, please seek guidance from a licensed mental health provider. All stories, examples, and characters shared are fictionalized or composite representations. Any resemblance to actual persons or situations is purely coincidental and intended solely for educational illustration.

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https://www.zerodisturbance.com/free-resources   

With a Masters in Education from Vanderbilt, Kambria has been creating trainings and teaching adult learners for over 20 years. As the Director of Education and Quality Improvement at Stanford Medical School, she created ease in complex systems, thereby giving medical trainees successful learning experiences. Now, as a dedicated mom, therapist, and EMDR Consultant, Kambria knows what it means to do things efficiently, effectively, and in a learner-centered way. When she isn't podcasting or creating online courses, you can find Kambria playing with her twins on a beach in California.