EMDR
Do you feel like past traumas continue to affect your present functioning? Do you resonate with feeling 'stuck' in everyday situations? Do you experience physical responses like panic attacks, flashbacks, nightmares, or other trauma-related symptoms?
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is one of the gold-standard treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other traumatic memories. EMDR therapy may be used as a standalone treatment, but it can also be part of a more integrative approach. EMDR may help people recover from trauma at a faster pace than other conventional talk therapies. After completing EMDR therapy, people generally feel a greater sense of relief and fewer trauma-related disturbances.
For EMDR, book with:
Dayirai Kapfunde (virtual only)
Kenneth Guye (virtual only)
Samantha LeBlanc
Who Can Benefit from EMDR?
Most EMDR research has focused on its role in treating traumatic memories and emotional distress. Trauma is complex, and it doesn't come with a one-size-fits-all recovery method. With that in mind, research has shown that EMDR can be an effective treatment if you experience the following PTSD symptoms:
Re-experiencing the trauma via flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, or nightmares
Feeling numb about the trauma
Avoiding people, places, or objects reminiscent of the trauma
Experiencing difficulty recalling significant elements of the trauma
Feeling deep shame, fear, horror, and anger
Blaming yourself or others disproportionately
Struggling to access positive emotions
Increased hypervigilance (restlessness, paranoia, jumpiness, feeling ‘keyed up’)
Problems with focus and concentration
Sleep issues
Feeling like you can't move past a traumatic memory even if you've had therapy for it
Research has also shown that, in addition to treating chronic PTSD, EMDR can be beneficial for treating other mental health conditions, including dissociative disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, personality disorders, and other strong emotional difficulties.
What Happens In A Typical EMDR Therapy Session?
EMDR consists of eight phases focused on learning and reconciling parts of your past and present. Although EMDR is a structured therapy, the unfolding of each phase moves at a pace suited to your specific needs and comfort.
Phase 1 - Assessment and History-Taking: The first part of EMDR consists of treatment planning. At this point, you and your therapist will review some of your traumatic events, triggers, or negative thoughts (known as targets). This information sets the stage for your EMDR practice.
Phase 2 - Preparation: Preparation entails skill-building, as it's important to move within your specific window of tolerance when doing trauma work. Preparation may consist of learning various grounding exercises and other coping skills to familiarize yourself with working through distressing memories. During this phase, your therapist will also provide you with psychoeducation about the flow of EMDR sessions, so you know exactly what to expect.
Phase 3 - Accessing Target Memories: During this phase, you and your therapist will collaborate on which traumatic memories or traumatic experiences you want to explore. You'll assess how disturbing this event is on a scale from 0-10. The third phase also includes activating your target memory, which can be achieved by noting body sensations, identifying negative emotions or negative beliefs, or sharing images associated with the target.
Phase 4 - Desensitization: During this phase, your therapist will engage you in bilateral stimulation (via a finger or light bar or a virtual app) to start the desensitization process. Your therapist will encourage you to openly identify what sensations or feelings you notice. Over time, your distress should decrease from your initial rating on the 1-10 scale.
What Happens In A Typical EMDR Therapy Session?
Phase 5 - Installation: Installation entails moving to integrate the positive cognition into the trauma memories. You will be encouraged to hold these positive beliefs or physical sensations while engaging in more bilateral stimulations. The goal is to strengthen the positivity as much as you can.
Phase 6 - Body Scan: A body scan simply entails checking in with your body to work through any subjective distress held within. You will be encouraged to continue holding onto your positive belief as you scan through your body and notice the associated sensations.
Phase 7 - Closure: Not all target memories are fully reprocessed in each therapy session. Therefore, it's important to engage in appropriate closure until the next appointment. This allows you to feel grounded and safe throughout trauma treatment.
Phase 8 - Reevaluation: Reevaluation entails identifying what you have noticed in between sessions. You might notice new memories emerging or changes within your relationships or thoughts. During this phase, you and your therapist will decide what to work on in future sessions.
What Else Is Important to Know About EMDR?
The length of EMDR work ranges depending on the individual. It can take time for you to feel safe with your therapist, and building that initial rapport is essential for successful treatment. While the goal of therapy isn't to forget a disturbing event, EMDR can help strengthen your emotional health while releasing some of the intensity associated with your most troubling memories.
That said, this mode of therapy tends to be brief and lasts, on average, around 6-12 sessions for single incident traumas. For complex post-traumatic stress disorder (c-PTSD), the work can take longer, but healing may also happen faster than it would in conventional talk therapy.
EMDR can be used as a standalone treatment, or it can also be used to complement other therapies, including CBT, DBT, and narrative therapy.
EMDR in Fort McMurray
How to Start EMDR
Beginning EMDR with Boreal Therapy Collective is easy and requires no referral. You can book your initial assessment here.
Understanding Length of Therapy and Treatment
Your first appointment will be 90-minutes long. For all future appointments, you can choose to book for 1 hour or 90-minutes. During your first appointment, your therapist will ask you questions to better understand you and your areas of struggle. This is known as an assessment. Depending on how much you share, the assessment phase can last anywhere from one to three appointments. The assessment is critical. It helps you and your therapist understand your goals, and it helps your therapist develop a treatment plan to support you in achieving these goals.
After the assessment is complete, treatment begins! Most people will have a therapy session every two weeks, and we recommend this for optimal treatment. Effective EMDR treatment takes somewhere between six to twelve appointments (for some more, others less). Many choose to continue therapy once formal treatment is complete. This is referred to as maintenance. People who do this typically have an appointment once every six to eight weeks. This is not a requirement and is a matter of personal choice.
EMDR at Boreal Therapy Collective
Where We Are Located
We’re located at 8530 Manning Avenue, Unit 104. You’ll find us in the Service Canada building (on the side of the building that faces the Clearwater River). To check out our space, click here.
Parking is located at the front and back of the building. The front parking lot is closer to us but tends to fill up quickly. There is also an empty dirt lot adjacent to our office that many use for parking. If you park at the back (where Service Canada is located), you can walk around the building to reach our office. To learn more about parking, click here.
Importantly, you do not need to be in town for treatment. We offer in-person and virtual therapy and our therapists are happy to provide whatever option works best for you!
Rates & Benefit Coverage
Initial assessments are billed at a rate of $330.00 for a 90-minute appointment. Follow-up sessions are billed at a rate of $220.00/hour or $330.00/90-minutes (you can choose your preferred appointment length when booking).
Our social workers offer direct billing to 25+ benefit providers. Many benefit providers will cover a portion or the whole amount of your therapy session. With your consent, we will always direct bill your benefit provider first. Please note that our Registered Psychiatric Nurses are typically ineligible for direct billing.
If we are unable to direct bill, you can pay via email money transfer or credit card. You will be given a receipt once payment has been collected. For more information on benefit coverage, click here.
