We are uninvited settlers occupying the stolen, territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Qayqayt, and kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) peoples. Our relationship with these lands dictates our commitment to understanding the ongoing impacts of colonization and decolonizing our practices in and out of the counselling room.
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EMDR is an evidence-based therapy that draws on the neurobiology of the brain. By engaging in specific cadences of bilateral stimulation and tapping into the brain's REM sleep processes, EMDR helps to work through "stuck" memories that are causing distress. It accesses the neuropathways that are keeping your internal alarm active beyond what's adaptive and works to help you build the neural networks that will actually work for you.
EMDR therapy involves eight phases, including history-taking, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and re-evaluation. During sessions, you’ll be guided to focus on pre-mapped memories while engaging in bilateral stimulation, typically through eye movements, taps, and/or sounds. This process helps reprocess traumatic experiences, reducing their emotional impact and allowing for more adaptive beliefs and behaviours to develop.
Most clients find EMDR to be beneficial because it doesn't require the traumatic retelling of events and its effects are often seen within a shorter amount of time when compared to traditional talk therapy. We’ve also seen it get to the root of an issue, offering insights on deeper subconscious dynamics at play.
EMDR can be used for a wide range of issues and is not limited to what is traditionally quantified as "PTSD" or "Trauma". EMDR can be effective for addressing various concerns, including:
For more information about EMDR and how it can benefit you, check out these links below:
Your first EMDR session involves mapping your experiences and its associated beliefs that you want to process in subsequent sessions. Your therapist may also support you in building grounding skills and/or do a mini EMDR processing test to build your personalized bilateral stimulation cadence. This mini EMDR processing test also helps to ensure that the impacts of EMDR feel sustainable for you before diving into more rooted experiences and memories.
A typical subsequent EMDR session begins with a brief check-in to assess your current state and identify the target memory or issue to work on. Your therapist will guide you through the bilateral stimulation process, which may involve eye movements, tapping, and/or auditory cues. You'll focus on the target memory while engaging in the bilateral stimulation, allowing your brain to process and reframe the experience. Throughout the session, your therapist will provide support and help you navigate any emotions or insights that arise. The session concludes with a prompt to notice changes that may come up between sessions to be explored and connected with in your next EMDR session.
Because EMDR has a specific protocol, we recommend you book an 80-minute session with your therapist so that we have enough time to work through the complete sequence we’re processing in each session.
As with all therapies, there are potential impacts to be aware of. General considerations specific to EMDR include a temporary increase in emotional distress or physical sensations during processing, experiencing more vivid dreams between sessions as the brain continues to process, experiencing an emergence of previously suppressed memories, and feeling more emotionally vulnerable between sessions. Your therapist will help guide you through these potential impacts and support you in developing resources to mitigate them as you’re moving forward with sessions.
EMDR can be a standalone practice or engaged in conjunction with other counselling services. Depending on what you’re looking to process, your therapist may recommending continuing with a series of EMDR sessions before returning to other therapeutic processes. Because EMDR is a very specific form of therapy with a robust protocol, it is only recommended to work with a therapist with specific EMDR training. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to book a free consult with one of our EMDR-trained therapists!
