The Center for Integrative Medicine, an affiliate of Shore Health System, is offering the free lecture “Fears, Phobias, and the Bay Bridge” on Thursday, January 22 at 6:00 p.m. The center is located at 607-B Dutchman’s Lane in Easton.

Richard Gibson, LCSW-C, will discuss EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing – a form of treatment for post-traumatic stress. Citing case examples, Gibson will show how EMDR is used to desensitize the traumatic experiences that are often at the core of bridge and similar phobias

Gibson is a psychotherapist in practice at the Center for Integrative Medicine. He specializes in psychological trauma and is certified in EMDR by the EMDR International Association.

“Bridge phobias often emanate from bad experiences crossing a bridge, but not always,” Gibson says. “Sometimes the bridge crossing that triggers the first panic attack is about unconscious fears, such as the fear of losing control or of becoming trapped. The bridge may symbolize that hidden fear before becoming an object of fear itself.”

The lecture is free and open to the public. Registration is required. For more information and to register, call the Center for Integrative Medicine at 410-770-9400.