Keep in mind that you are in control throughout this entire process, and our EMDR counsellors will encourage you to be open with your needs.
This part of the process is to determine if EMDR would work for you and whether you’d prefer your sessions to be in person at our Vancouver studio or online.
Your counsellor will walk you through what to expect during your sessions and help establish safety and coping mechanisms to support you.
You and your counsellor will identify target memories associated with negative beliefs and address each one individually during treatment.
You’ll focus on an uncomfortable memory or image that was highlighted during your assessment. Bilateral stimulation, such as eye movement or tapping, is then used to help you process the memory.
During this phase, your counsellor will help you incorporate a positive belief to replace the original negative belief, using the same bilateral stimulation method.
Your counsellor will guide you through scanning your body to see what new information has surfaced and how you feel about the negative memory.
You’ll discuss what to expect between sessions and how to support yourself. You won’t leave until you feel safe and comfortable.
You and your counsellor will evaluate your progress and decide on the next steps, whether it’s addressing a new target or concluding therapy.
Live an empowered life free from trauma with EMDR therapy
EMDR therapy, short for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a structured, scientifically validated trauma treatment that helps rewire how your brain processes traumatic memories. Developed in the late 1980s and now endorsed by the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association, it has become a leading method for treating posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and other mental health conditions related to trauma.
During EMDR sessions, you’ll recall a targeted memory while experiencing bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping. This dual stimulation engages both hemispheres of the brain, helping to “unlock” and reprocess stuck or overwhelming emotional material from traumatic events.
At Sana Counselling, we use EMDR as a powerful form of reprocessing therapy. It often requires fewer sessions than traditional talk therapy, making it an effective treatment for those seeking relief from trauma-related symptoms, including posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and negative self-beliefs.
If you’re living with the effects of psychological trauma, chronic stress, or PTSD symptoms, EMDR therapy can help you reduce emotional overwhelm and reconnect with a greater sense of ease. It’s especially helpful for those who have experienced:
Distressing life experiences, such as accidents, loss, or abuse
A PTSD diagnosis after traumatic events
Childhood trauma or attachment wounds
Panic attacks or anxiety disorders
Emotional responses to medical diagnoses (including epilepsy)
Negative beliefs or thought loops tied to old wounds
EMDR can help release the emotional charge tied to those memories and replace them with more grounded, positive beliefs.
Whether you’re dealing with a single trauma or are among multiple trauma victims, EMDR offers a compassionate and effective path forward. Our goal is to ensure you leave each session feeling safe, supported, and more empowered to live fully.
Championed by some of the leading trauma specialists in the world, EMDR helps to reduce overwhelming emotions from traumatic memories by processing the trauma through eye movements or tapping. These movements engage both sides of the brain while approaching trauma or speaking about past experiences. This allows you to integrate healthy perceptions, attitudes and beliefs into your everyday life by identifying and minimizing beliefs and anxieties that are not serving you.
EMDR trauma therapy requires less talking and more processing and it can be a triggering process. This is why we only recommend this to individuals who are looking to work through traumatic experiences after safety resources have been provided by the counsellor to ensure your well-being and ability to stay present.
EMDR therapy is built upon the theory that your brain stores normal and traumatic memories in a different way. This theory is called Adaptive Information Processing (AIP). Essentially, during events in your regular life your brain functions properly, it stores memories and connects them to other memories to help you remember the information. During traumatic events, the networking part of our brain doesn’t ‘work’ so to speak. The brain goes ‘offline’ and there becomes a disconnect between what you experience and what your brain remembers.
Through EMDR counselling, your therapist helps you to reprocess your memories of the traumatic event. This reprocessing is what helps to ‘repair’ or ‘reset’ your memories. Enabling your brain to believe that the danger you have experienced is finally over. Now when you remember your traumatic event it will no longer feel like reliving it and your feelings surrounding the event will be much easier to navigate.
Schedule a brief phone call with one of our counsellors to explore your goals, challenges, and what kind of support you’re seeking.
You’ll be matched with a counsellor who can best support you on your healing journey.
In your first session, we’ll create a non-judgmental space where you can safely express your feelings, explore your emotions, and begin developing tools for growth and resilience.
We understand how difficult this can be and want to make the process of working together as smooth as possible, so you can focus on what’s important, your mental health.
“It has been 7 days since my last EMDR appointment and I had to share the great news. My neck tension is GONE. I came home and slept as if I had returned from a 7-day hike. I felt the most tired and drained I have ever felt in my life. But not sad, I didn’t cry one tear after. I thought going through my trauma would make me sad, but it healed my sadness. I slept all day, no nightmares, just exhaustion. The next day I woke up and I can’t even explain the feeling. A 10-year emotional journey, with 6 years of physical discomfort is over and it’s because of you.”
— CB
In a typical EMDR therapy session, your counsellor will guide you through the eight phases of EMDR, beginning with stabilization and moving into identifying targeted memories. Once you’re ready, you’ll engage in desensitization and reprocessing EMDR techniques, like eye movement or tapping, while focusing on distressing content.
EMDR is highly effective, but it’s not for everyone. At Sana Counselling, we only begin EMDR after ensuring that you’ve developed safety tools and emotional regulation strategies. This helps prevent re-traumatization and ensures your system is ready to process trauma safely.
Absolutely. While originally developed for post traumatic stress disorder, EMDR has been successful in treating trauma tied to grief, chronic pain, addiction, phobias, and more. It also supports healing from negative beliefs, self-esteem challenges, and relationship issues rooted in traumatic stress.
Fifteen minutes, no cost, no intake form. You say what has been going on. We say whether this is the kind of work that will help, and who here is the right person for it.
If it is not a fit, we will tell you that and point you somewhere better.
