EMDR Therapy in Langley
EMDR Therapy in Langley
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy from my office in Walnut Grove, with virtual appointments available throughout British Columbia.
What is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapy designed to help you process difficult or traumatic experiences that continue to affect the way you think, feel or respond in the present.
This therapy is based on the principle that experiences in the present become memories of the past. When a memory is processed normally, you can remember what happened without experiencing the event as though it is happening again. But some distressing experiences are not always processed in the same way. Traumatic memories can remain vivid, continuing to produce thoughts, emotions and physical reactions long after the original event has ended.
Think of it this way. If you went on a wonderful holiday a decade ago, the memories might have been extraordinarily vivid immediately after the trip. But as time passed, the experience became part of your past. You can still remember where you went and what happened, perhaps even in considerable detail, but you don’t experience the vacation in the present.
Traumatic memories can behave differently. Something happening today—a place, sound, smell, conversation or situation—can trigger the memory and bring some of the original experience back with it. The memory may remain connected to the thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and reactions that accompanied what happened, making an event from the past continue to affect you in the present.
The goal of EMDR is to help your mind process and integrate the experience so that the memory can become part of your past. You can still remember what happened, but remembering it does not have to produce the same level of distress or exert the same influence over your life today.
How EMDR Supports Memory Processing
SENSATIONSREACTIONSMEMORY
During processing, bilateral stimulation helps the traumatic memory become integrated into the broader memory network.
KNOW TODAYSENSATIONSINTEGRATED
MEMORY
How EMDR Works
Memories are not created in isolation but in interconnected networks. You form a memory based on what you saw, heard and felt, and then connect that memory to an existing network of knowledge. These networks form systems that allow you to process information and interpret new experiences quickly. Because memories are stored in networks, something happening in the present can connect with information stored from an earlier experience. A sound, smell, place, person or situation may resemble or be associated with something you have experienced before, activating that network and helping you understand what is happening now.
This is the basis of familiarity. If you smell freshly baked bread, you recognize the scent because it connects with memories and information you already have about bread. If you hear rain hitting the roof, you recognize the sound and know that it is raining outside. You don't have to examine each new experience from the beginning. Your brain connects what is happening now with information it has stored from the past, allowing you to understand the present quickly.
When an experience is sufficiently distressing or overwhelming, this process is interrupted. The intensity of the experience overwhelms the brain's usual information-processing system, preventing the memory from being integrated with your broader memory networks in the usual way. Instead of becoming part of the greater whole, the memory remains isolated, retaining the emotions, physical sensations, thoughts and perceptions you experienced when the event occurred.
This becomes important when something in the present connects with information stored in that isolated memory. A sound, smell, place, person or situation associated with the original experience can activate the memory network. Just as the smell of bread connects you with information you already have about bread, a reminder of a traumatic experience connects you with information stored about that experience. But because the traumatic memory still carries the emotions, physical sensations, thoughts and perceptions of the original event, some of those responses can be activated along with the memory.
In other words, your brain is doing what memory networks are designed to do: using information from the past to interpret what is happening in the present. The problem is that the information it is drawing from has not been fully integrated.
EMDR works to help you integrate this memory with the intention of reducing the intensity of the emotions, physical sensations and reactions associated with it. This is done using bilateral stimulation, which alternates stimulation between the left and right sides of your body while you bring aspects of the targeted memory into awareness.
As the memory is processed, it can begin forming new associations with information that was not connected to it before. The event itself does not change, but the network of information surrounding it can. What you know today can become connected with what you experienced then, allowing you to understand the event from a different perspective.
This process allows the memory to become part of your broader memory networks rather than continuing to operate as an isolated source of distress. The thoughts, emotions and physical sensations attached to it may become less intense as new understandings become connected to the experience. You can still remember what happened, but the memory no longer has to produce the same response when it is activated.
What EMDR Treats
EMDR is most commonly associated with the treatment of trauma, but an experience does not have to involve a catastrophic event to continue affecting you. This treatment can help resolve distressing memories associated with experiences in families, relationships, schools and workplaces, including humiliation, rejection, failure and loss.
When memories of these experiences continue to influence how you think, feel or respond in the present, EMDR can be used to process the underlying experience and reduce the distress associated with it.
In my practice, some of the areas where I may use EMDR include:
Trauma & Injury
EMDR helps those with memories of traumatic experiences and injuries by processing the thoughts, emotions, physical sensations and reactions that remain connected to what happened. As the memory becomes integrated with broader memory networks, the distress associated with it can become less intense, allowing you to remember the experience without continuing to respond to it as though it were happening in the present.
Learn more about Trauma & Injury Counselling →Anxiety
EMDR helps those experiencing anxiety connected to distressing past experiences by processing the memories, thoughts, emotions and physical sensations underlying the anxious response. As these memories become integrated with broader memory networks, situations in the present can become less likely to trigger the same fear, physical arousal or expectation of danger.
Learn more about Anxiety Counselling →Depression
EMDR helps those experiencing depression connected to painful past experiences by processing memories that continue to influence how they see themselves, other people or their future. As these memories are processed and connected with new information, the emotions and beliefs associated with them can become less intense and exert less influence over how you experience your life today.
Learn more about Depression Counselling →Anger
EMDR helps those experiencing anger connected to past experiences by processing memories of being hurt, threatened, humiliated or treated unfairly. As the distress associated with these memories is reduced, situations in the present can be experienced with less of the emotional intensity carried forward from what happened in the past.
Learn more about Anger Counselling →Addiction
EMDR helps those using substances or other behaviours to cope with distress connected to painful or traumatic experiences by processing the memories underlying that distress. As the emotional and physical responses associated with those memories become less intense, the need to escape or find immediate relief from them may also be reduced.
Learn more about Addiction Counselling →Who Can Benefit From EMDR?
EMDR can be adapted to different people, circumstances and counselling goals. I may use EMDR when working with individuals, men, couples and families, people navigating separation or divorce, and clients accessing counselling through an Employee Assistance Program.
The way I use it depends on the person and the experiences we are addressing. For one person, EMDR may focus on a traumatic event or injury. For another, it may address experiences of rejection, loss, conflict or humiliation that continue to influence how they think, feel or respond in the present.
Is EMDR Right for Me?
You do not need to decide whether EMDR is the right type of therapy for you before coming to counselling. Part of my role is to understand what you are experiencing, the experiences that may be contributing to it and what you would like to change.
For some people, EMDR may form the primary approach to treatment. For others, I may use EMDR alongside other therapeutic approaches. The treatment starts with the person, not the modality.
Frequently Asked Questions About EMDR
No. You don’t need to choose a therapeutic approach before coming to counselling. We can discuss what you are experiencing, what you would like to change and whether EMDR or another approach may be appropriate for your goals.
No. EMDR is commonly associated with the treatment of PTSD and trauma, but it can also be used to address distressing experiences that continue to affect you in the present. These can include experiences involving loss, rejection, humiliation, conflict, injury or other events that remain emotionally significant.
No. EMDR does not require you to describe every detail of an experience aloud. We need enough information to understand what we are addressing, but much of the processing can take place without providing a detailed verbal account of everything that happened.
No. The purpose of EMDR is not to erase a memory. You will still remember what happened after the memory has been processed. The aim is for the experience to become integrated as part of your past so that remembering it does not continue to produce the same level of emotional or physical distress in the present.
Bilateral stimulation means alternating stimulation between the left and right sides of your body. During EMDR, this may involve following movement from side to side with your eyes, alternating taps or listening to sounds that alternate between your ears.
The length of treatment depends on what you are working on, your history, the number and complexity of the experiences being addressed and how you respond to treatment. We can discuss your progress as counselling continues and adjust the treatment plan as needed.
Yes. EMDR does not necessarily have to be used on its own. Depending on your needs and treatment goals, I may incorporate EMDR alongside other therapeutic approaches.
Yes. I offer in-person counselling from my office in Walnut Grove, Langley, as well as virtual appointments for clients throughout British Columbia.
Other Ways I Help
Depending on what brings you to counselling and what we are trying to accomplish, I may also draw from: