EMDR Therapy
EMDR is a structured therapy approach that helps you process trauma, distressing memories and experiences that continue to impact how you feel today.
Sometimes you know what happened is over, but your mind and body haven’t quite gotten the message.
Maybe you understand logically that you’re safe now, but certain memories, situations, feelings, or reminders still bring you right back there. You might find yourself replaying what happened, avoiding anything that reminds you of it, feeling unexpectedly emotional, or noticing your body reacting before you’ve even had time to understand why.Sometimes, you may not even think of what you experienced as “trauma.” You just know that something from your past still seems to have a hold on how you feel today.
EMDR therapy can help you process experiences that continue to feel stuck, so that remembering what happened doesn’t have to feel the same as reliving it.
You may be considering EMDR therapy because you’re experiencing:
Distressing or intrusive memories
Anxiety or fear connected to a past experience
Difficult experiences from childhood
Grief or loss that continues to feel overwhelming
A traumatic or frightening event
Difficult medical experiences, injury, or pregnancy loss
Relationship experiences that have impacted how you see yourself
Strong emotional reactions that seem bigger than the current situation
Avoidance of certain situations, places, conversations, or reminders
Negative beliefs such as “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not safe,” or “It was my fault”
Feeling stuck despite understanding intellectually why you feel the way you do
Experiences from the past that continue to impact your confidence, relationships, or everyday life
You don’t need to have experienced one specific type of trauma to explore whether EMDR could be helpful for you.
You may be here because:
How EMDR therapy can help:
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a structured therapy approach that can help you process distressing memories and experiences that continue to affect you in the present.
Sometimes when we experience something overwhelming, the memory can continue to carry strong emotions, physical sensations, images, or beliefs about ourselves long after the experience has ended. You may logically know that you are safe now or that what happened wasn’t your fault, while another part of you still reacts as though the experience is happening now.
EMDR can help you work through both the experience itself and the beliefs that may have become connected to it, such as “I’m not safe,” “I’m not good enough,” “I should have done something differently,” or “I can’t trust myself.” Over time, we can work toward reducing the intensity attached to these experiences and developing more helpful beliefs such as “I’m safe now,” “I did the best I could,” “I am enough,” or “I can trust myself.”
EMDR incorporates bilateral stimulation, which involves alternating stimulation between the left and right sides of the body through methods such as guided eye movements or tapping. The goal isn’t to erase the memory or make you forget what happened. Instead, we work toward helping the experience feel like something that happened in the past rather than something that continues to have the same emotional impact in the present.
And we don’t jump straight into processing difficult memories. We first spend time getting to know you, understanding your experiences and goals, and developing strategies to help you feel grounded and supported. When you feel ready, we can identify experiences to work through while paying attention to the thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and body sensations that come up.
You also don’t need to share every detail of a painful experience for EMDR to be effective. The process is collaborative and moves at a pace that feels manageable for you.
The memory doesn’t disappear, but the way it impacts you can change.
What therapy may look like
EMDR therapy follows a structured process, but it is tailored to you, your experiences, and what feels manageable. We don’t begin by immediately asking you to revisit your most difficult memories.
We start by getting to know you.
Early sessions focus on understanding what has brought you to therapy, what you are experiencing now, relevant experiences from your past, and what you would like to change. Together, we begin identifying patterns, triggers, memories, or beliefs that may be connected to what you are struggling with today.
We make sure you have strategies to feel grounded.
Before beginning EMDR processing, we spend time developing tools that can help you manage difficult emotions or body sensations that may come up. This might include grounding strategies, breathing, visualization, identifying internal and external supports, or other emotional regulation skills that work for you.
Together, we identify what you want to work on.
When you feel ready, we may choose a specific memory or experience to focus on. We will explore what comes up when you think about it, including emotions, body sensations, images, and beliefs about yourself. You do not need to provide a detailed retelling of everything that happened.
We begin EMDR processing.
While briefly focusing on aspects of the experience, your therapist will guide you through sets of bilateral stimulation, such as moving your eyes from side to side or alternating tapping. Between sets, you will be asked to notice what comes up, this might be a thought, emotion, memory, image, physical sensation, or something you did not expect.
There is no “right” thing you are supposed to think or feel. Your therapist will guide the process, check in with you regularly, and help you stay connected to the present while your brain works through the experience.
We check in and close each session intentionally.
You will not simply be expected to process something difficult and then walk out the door. We leave time to check in, help you feel grounded, discuss anything you noticed, and talk about what you may experience between sessions.
Not every appointment will involve EMDR processing. Some sessions may involve talking, building coping strategies, exploring something new that has come up, or deciding together that it makes sense to pause processing.
You remain in control throughout the process. You can ask questions, slow down, take a break, or stop at any point. EMDR is something we do collaboratively, not something that is done to you.
ready to get started?
Lauren Mallon Psychotherapy offers EMDR therapy virtually across Ontario with our trained and certified therapist Fiona.