Online EMDR Therapy Across Ontario & Alberta
Some experiences end, but your body can keep reacting as though they are still happening.
A memory, argument, body sensation, medical experience, betrayal, birth experience, or moment of shame can trigger panic, anxiety, anger, avoidance, or a reaction that feels much bigger than the present moment.
EMDR helps the brain process distressing memories and experiences so they are less likely to keep activating the same emotional and physical response.
EMDR is best known for the treatment of trauma and PTSD, and it is included in major PTSD treatment guidelines.
EMDR for Trauma, PTSD & Distressing Memories
EMDR can be used to work with traumatic experiences, disturbing memories, triggers, accidents, frightening events, childhood experiences, relational trauma, and experiences that still feel emotionally present even though they happened in the past.
The goal is not to erase the memory. It is to help your nervous system recognize that the experience is no longer happening now.
EMDR for Panic Attacks & Anxiety
Sometimes a panic attack becomes frightening enough that the fear of having another one becomes part of the problem.
A racing heart, dizziness, tightness in the chest, or another body sensation can suddenly trigger the memory of previous panic and create another wave of fear.
EMDR may be helpful when panic is connected to distressing memories, frightening bodily sensations, or experiences that continue to trigger alarm. Research on EMDR for panic disorder is promising but much smaller and less established than the evidence for PTSD, so I would not market EMDR as a first-line panic treatment.
EMDR for Betrayal, Infidelity & Relationship Trauma
After betrayal or infidelity, certain memories can replay repeatedly.
The discovery.
The message you saw.
The conversation.
The image you cannot stop imagining.
For some clients, EMDR can help process the experiences that continue to trigger intense emotional or physical reactions while the couple works on trust, repair, and intimacy.
EMDR for Birth Trauma, Pregnancy & Parenting Triggers
A difficult birth, frightening pregnancy experience, postpartum experience, or earlier childhood memory can continue to influence how your body responds long afterward.
Parenting can also activate memories and emotions from your own childhood that you did not expect to revisit.
EMDR can help process experiences from the past that continue to become activated in the present.
EMDR for Body Image, Shame & Food-Related Experiences
Sometimes body-image distress is connected to experiences that still carry shame.
Comments about your body.
Bullying.
Rejection.
Humiliation.
Medical experiences.
Changes in your body.
Moments when you learned that your appearance somehow determined your worth.
When past experiences contribute to present body-image distress or disordered eating patterns, EMDR may be one part of a broader therapeutic approach.