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What is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured, evidence-based, proven psychotherapy that helps people process distressing experiences and the ways those experiences may continue to affect them in the present. Sometimes our brains naturally process difficult experiences over time. Other times, an experience can feel as though it has become “stuck.” You may know intellectually that something happened in the past, while your body, emotions, or nervous system continue to respond as though the danger is happening now. You might find yourself thinking, “I know I'm safe, but I don't feel safe,” or “I know it's in the past, so why am I still reacting this way?” EMDR helps you work with the memories, emotions, beliefs, body sensations, and triggers connected to these experiences, with the goal of reducing their emotional and physiological intensity. The aim isn't to erase what happened. It is to help your brain and body recognize that the experience is in the past, while you are here in the present. EMDR was originally developed to treat trauma and PTSD and is now one of the most researched trauma-focused psychotherapies. Major health organizations, including the World Health Organization and NICE in the UK, recognize EMDR as an evidence-based treatment.
Who is EMDR For?
EMDR therapy can help adults experiencing trauma, PTSD, anxiety, relationship difficulties, negative self-beliefs, and other experiences that continue to affect their present-day lives. Trauma isn't always one dramatic event. Sometimes it is what happened repeatedly. Sometimes it is what didn't happen. Sometimes it is a relationship that changed how you see yourself. And sometimes it is one particular experience that your mind and body never quite moved past. EMDR may be helpful for adults experiencing: • Trauma & PTSD • Anxiety & panic • Childhood or developmental trauma • ADHD • Autism • Dyslexia • Difficult or painful relationship experiences • OCD • Chronic Pain & illness • Anxiety & depression • Low self-worth, esteem, or confidence • Grief & loss • Medical trauma or accidents • Phobias & fears • Addiction • Shame, guilt, or harsh self-criticism • Distressing or intrusive memories • Strong emotional reactions or triggers • Persistent negative beliefs about yourself • Feeling unsafe, powerless, stuck, rejected, or overwhelmed • Negative patterns or toxic cycles • Those who are new to therapy AND those who have tried years of other forms of talk therapy Together, we can look at what you're experiencing, what you want to change, and whether EMDR is the right fit. Sometimes people come to therapy knowing exactly what they want to work on. Other times, they simply know: “Something is affecting me, but I don't really know what.” You might understand your reactions logically but still feel unable to control them. You might notice that certain situations consistently trigger strong reactions. Or you may feel that something from your past is keeping you from fully enjoying your life now. You don't have to arrive with a diagnosis or a perfectly organized explanation. Part of our work together is understanding what's happening and finding the approach that is most helpful for you.
How Is EMDR Different From Talk Therapy?
Talk therapy can be incredibly valuable. Having someone listen, helping you understand yourself, developing new perspectives, and making sense of your experiences can all be deeply healing. EMDR simply offers another way of working. Rather than primarily talking about why something happened or repeatedly telling the story (especially when you've tried it and not much has changed or not to the extent you want), EMDR works directly with the experiences that may still be affecting you - including memories, emotions, beliefs, body sensations, and triggers. You don't have to intellectually figure everything out before you can begin to feel differently. You can already intellectually understand things but if your triggers and behaviours aren't changing, EMDR supports your body knowing what parts of your brain already understand. And you don't necessarily have to tell every detail of what happened. EMDR gives your brain an opportunity to process difficult experiences in a different way while you remain supported and connected to the present. For many people, this can feel very different from traditional talk therapy. That said, for many of the people I work with, they prefer incorporating more naturally some talk therapy throughout or alongside EMDR treatment.
How Does EMDR Help the Nervous System?
When something overwhelming happens, the nervous system can learn to stay on alert. Even when the original danger has passed, reminders of the experience can sometimes activate the same protective responses. In many ways this is a powerful way we have evolved and survived as a species. But sometimes when the "resolution" part of our body hasn't been able to heal the "hurt" that happened, some of our protective systems can be on overdrive more than they need to be in the present. This can look like: • Feeling constantly on edge or overwhelmed • Anxiety or panic • Being easily startled • Difficulty relaxing • Feeling emotionally overwhelmed • Avoiding certain situations • Feeling numb or disconnected • Strong reactions that seem bigger than the situation • Knowing you're safe logically, but not feeling safe • Snapping at loved ones • And so much more These responses aren't a sign that you're broken. They are signs that your nervous system has been trying to protect you. EMDR works with the experiences that may be contributing to this ongoing activation. As distressing memories are processed, people can experience reductions in emotional and physiological reactivity associated with those memories and their triggers. The goal isn't to magically “reset” your nervous system. Rather, the hope is that your brain and body can become better able to distinguish past danger from present safety. In simple terms: Your nervous system learned to protect you then. EMDR can help you experience more safety now.
What to Expect During EMDR Therapy
Past · Present · Future
EMDR Therapy supports:
reprocessing & healing Past experiences;
reducing or eliminating Present trigger responses;
& strengthening ability to move through Future challenges.
The 8 Phases of EMDR Therapy
You may hear about the "8 Phases of EMDR." While technically, EMDR works through 8 Phases, the treatment doesn't just simply move linearly from 1 through 8 and then is complete. We weave in and out of various stages through the process.
Stages 1 and 2 are what we commonly refer to as our Prep phases. As a part of the Prep phases, we identify what you want to work on and target (including memories, symptoms, etc). We develop this list of targets, and decide together what target to work on first.
We then move through Phases 3 to 8 (which may also ebb & flow back & forth through the various phases) until that first target we started with is complete.
We then move to the next target, and again move through Phases 3 to 8. Some targets can take less than one session to move through, and other targets may take serveral sessions to move through.
Phase 4: Desensitization
Bi-lateral stimulation, such as eye-movement or butterfly taps (which you would learn in Phase 2) activates the calming mechanisms of your parasympathetic nervous system to lower distress as you rapidly develop new neural networks and process understanding yourself and what happened to you. As the past is processed and information feels adaptive, the information moves to be filed away in parts of your brain that understand inherently, that that memory is in the past - meaning it no longer triggers the "fight/flight/freeze/fawn" part of your brain!
Phase 5: Installation
Because your body is wired towards healing, including your brain, by this stage you will already have adopted new, more grounded and healthy ways of viewing yourself and the world.
We strengthen these positive core beliefs in this phase - kind of like when a new, beautiful path is forged off an older worn-out road - we go over and over it again to make sure it is fully clear and the new dominant pathway!
Phase 6: Body Scan
EMDR is a somatic modality. Both because our nervous system is an active participant in this full-body therapy, but also because we incorporate the bodymind connection by targeting physical sensations and symptoms associated with your triggers or memories.
For example, the if a small twisting of your stomach comes up when you think of a particular memory or situation, we target that until you can be with the trigger and no longer feel any negative or uncomfortable body sensation.
Phase 7: Closure
Every time we end a session, even if you haven't completed the target we've been working on, we support returning you to a state of calm and emotional balance.
Phase 8: Reevaluation
Once we are in the processing phases, each time we start a new session, we check in on your overall progress and the lasting effects of processing.
Repeat or Complete
When a target is complete, we move to the next target on our plan, until we have completed all targets!
Phase 1: Intake
We begin by understanding your history, what brings you to therapy, what you're hoping to change, & what you need from the therapeutic process.
Phase 2: Prep
Typically, we spend approximately 1–2 sessions preparing before beginning the processing phases, although this varies depending on your individual needs. During this time you'll learn more about EMDR, develop grounding & regulation strategies, identify what you want to work on, & make sure you feel prepared.
Phase 3: Assessment
First processing phase. We'll be working with a target we've already identified together, and start to hone in on what comes up for you when you are present with the target (i.e. emotions, thoughts, body sensations, etc.). This helps your brain and body be present with the target as we move to Phase 4 for processing.
EMDR Session Options & Frequency
How often do we meet?
EMDR Session Options:
50-minute EMDR Session
Ideal for clients who prefer to work gradually within their usual therapy schedule and budget
80-minute EMDR Session
Provide more time for focused EMDR work within a single appointment. Can also weave in talk therapy for those that want both.
EMDR Session Frequency:
Weekly EMDR Therapy
Ideal for clients who prefer to work gradually within their usual therapy schedule and budget
Bi-Weekly EMDR Therapy
For clients who want EMDR but do not have the time or budget/benefits for more frequent sessions.
EMDR Intensives
For those who prefer a more concentrated approach, choosing EMDR intensive weeks with multiple standard or extended sessions scheduled close together.
How EMDR Supports the
Brain & Nervous System
Wired to Heal
When you get a cut, your body instantaneously kicks into high-gear and follows processes that heal the wound.
Your body seals the opening, engages the immune system, and starts building new and restoring damaged cells. You might wash the wound and put a bandage on, but technically your body knows what to do without you even having to do anything - you are wired to heal.
Let's say you got a sliver in your wound, or an infection. Your body still knows what to do, but it just reaches a point where it's stuck festering, struggling, or buffering - unable to complete it's own processes of healing. This is where you might need to intervene.
Once you remove the sliver, your body simply completes it's process. It already knew what to do, it just needed a little help to take out the barrier, and then it automatically finished the job.
Did you know that your nervous system (which includes your brain) also has its own specific and vast processes for healing?
We can sometimes forget this in mental health, but your brain and the rest of your system are physical too! Mental wounds are physical wounds. Your body is constantly following incredible processes for healing and processing your daily experiences using these powerful organs and systems.
But, just like the cut that had the sliver, sometimes the processes responsible for our mental health also get blocked or stuck (there are a lot of reasons why this can happen).
Your body knows how to heal, it's just got something in the way. There are some internal wounds festering and buffering - all they need is the right conditions to heal, and to have the block removed. From there, your body will simply complete it's own healing processes.
This is where the saying "Time heals all wounds" doesn't always apply. When it comes to trauma and cycling mental health challenges, often there's something stuck, and the healing can't happen until it's outta there.
Just as with the physical wound, the mental and emotional hurt stays painful and inflamed until we can unstick it. The body reminds us with the pain that there is still a wound needing tended to.
The pain of the festering wound shows up as experiences such as triggered responses to things in the present that may feel bigger than what is actually currently happening; negative core beliefs such as "I'm not lovable," "I cannot stand up for myself," "I cannot trust anyone"; intrusive thoughts or nightmares, and so on.
EMDR is the removing of the proverbial sliver. This process literally works to put your brain and nervous system in the right conditions they need to access, and therefore complete, their own hard-wired processes for healing.
We remove the blockage, your body heals.
What Are the Benefits of EMDR Therapy?
EMDR aims to change the way distressing memories are experienced, and how they may have negatively shaped the way you view yourself and the world.
You may notice:
Less emotional Intensity
Increased sense of choice & control
Increased connection to yourself, others, and the world
And so much more!
Fewer triggers
Improved Emotional & Nervous System Regulation
Ability to have challenging or uncomfortable conversations
Ability to be present in the moment
Free to be yourself & confident in your skin
Improved relationship with yourself
Less masking, more authenticity
The past stays in the past - no longer negatively impacting the present
Painful core beliefs shift to positive core beliefs. i.e. "I'm not good enough" to "I am worthy"
Greater sense of safety
Ability to confidently and smoothly ride emotions
Healthier Boundaries
EMDR Therapy Frequently Asked Questions
EMDR Therapy: Healing Beneath the Surface
Transformation from the root-up
Therapy isn't just about managing what's showing-up on the surface.
We can use practical tools to trim the branches and leaves: helping you cope with symptoms in the here and now. While EMDR helps us tend to the roots beneath them.
The tools help you manage.
EMDR helps you heal.
Together, we work from the outside in and the inside out, creating space for you to restore, grow, flourish, and bloom.
EMDR Training & Credentials
EMDR is an incredible modality that is extensively evidence-based and backed by neuroscience.
It is also a powerful tool that when done right, can be transformational. However, when it is used by practitioners who do not have the right or adequate training, it can be at best ineffective, and at worst cause harm.
If you are wanting to do EMDR therapy, make sure you find a therapist who has "EMDRIA-Approved" training (at least both Parts 1 & 2).
EMDRIA stands for EMDR International Association. This is the gold-standard and only internationally recognized level of education that can give you confidence that your practitioner has the training, knowledge, and expertise needed to safely work with EMDR.
If you are interested, you can check out EMDRIA's page where they share up-to-date peer-reviewed research papers, articles and studies: https://www.emdria.org/journal-of-emdr-practice-research/
My EMDR Training & Credentials:
Renews Annually
EMDR Canada
EMDR Canada Active Member:
Charlie Gray, Member #1484
Renews Annually
EMDR International Association
EMDRIA Active Member:
Charlie Gray, Member #100399454
August 20, 2025
Envision Counselling & Consulting, Inc.
EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Basic Training:
Parts 1 & 2
(This course consisted of at least 20 hours of didactic, 20 hours of practicum, & 10 hours consultation)
March 25, 2026
Envision Counselling & Consulting, Inc.
Integrating Neurodiversity into Trauma Therapy:
Clinical Tools for Treating Autistic & ADHD Clients
(This course taught by EMDR Accredited Consultant, Anna Clarke, MCPT, BPsych (Hons))
June 8, 2026
Envision Counselling & Consulting, Inc.
Trauma-Related Dissociation:
Integrating Top-Down & Bottom-Up Strategies into Your EMDR Practice
Online EMDR Therapy Across Ontario & Beyond
I provide virtual EMDR psychotherapy for adults in Ontario and other jurisdictions where I am able to practice, including Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada; Ireland; & The United Kingdom.
