EMDR and Trauma Therapy
EMDR and trauma therapy for adults across St. John's and Newfoundland and Labrador, with therapists trained in evidence-based approaches for PTSD, complex trauma, single-incident trauma, and the delayed effects of childhood experiences that show up later in life.
Sessions draw on EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), somatic-informed trauma work, and Internal Family Systems approaches to trauma, with the option to meet in person in St. John's, NL or virtually anywhere in Canada.
Book a free 15-minute consultation below to find out whether EMDR or another approach is the right starting point.
What is EMDR?
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Long name, simpler idea than it sounds. It uses eye movement or other stimulation while activating a traumatic memory in the brain, then allows your brain to reprocess the memory and reduce its emotional weight.
It was built for trauma and for the memories that never quite settle. What sets it apart from regular talk therapy is that you don't have to sit and narrate the worst thing that ever happened to you in full detail. EMDR works with the way your brain stored a memory, not just the story you tell about it.
We offer it in person here in St. John's, and over secure video anywhere in Canada.
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EMDR came out of the late 1980s, and it's now one of the most researched trauma therapies there is. Both the World Health Organization and the American Psychological Association recommend it for post-traumatic stress. The idea behind it is this: some memories never get filed away properly. A distressing event can stay live in your nervous system, so a smell, a sound, or a stray thought drops you right back into it.
EMDR helps your brain finish processing that memory, so it becomes something that happened to you rather than something still happening.
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While you hold a hard memory in mind, your therapist guides you through short sets of back-and-forth movement. Usually that means your eyes following their hand or a light moving side to side, though some people prefer tapping or soft alternating tones through headphones. It's called bilateral stimulation, and it seems to free the brain up to reprocess the memory, a little like what your mind does during REM sleep. You go in short bursts. Pause, notice what came up, then carry on. You stay awake and in control the whole time. It isn't hypnosis.
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EMDR is best known for PTSD, but it reaches further than that. It helps with single-incident trauma like a car crash or an assault, and with the slower kind that builds up over years. People come to us carrying anxiety that won't quiet down, panic, grief, phobias, and the leftover weight of a hard childhood. If something from your past is still steering how you feel and react now, it's worth a conversation about whether EMDR is a fit.
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For families navigating a death, an illness diagnosis, or a major identity change together. Sessions can be joint or split into subsystems (parents alone, siblings alone) depending on what's most useful.
How to get started
A free first call
15-minute call, usually with the family member who's initiating. No intake forms, no clinical assessment, no pressure to commit.
Match with a therapist
Based on the call, we suggest a therapist trained in the approach that fits your history and current capacity for the work.
Your first session
50 minutes, in person in St. John's or virtually across NL. The first session is almost always about grounding and safety, not diving into trauma content.
Move at your own pace
Weekly, biweekly, or spaced further apart. Trauma work benefits from consistency, but never demands more than you can handle in a given week.
FAQs
Does EMDR therapy really work?
EMDR therapy is a new practice, but there is clinical evidence that it can be very effective for helping patients reprocess and move on from traumatic memories. One study showed that up to 90 percent of patients suffering from PTSD no longer had symptoms after just three sessions. Another showed that 77 percent of combat veterans were free of PTSD after 12 sessions. There is evidence it can take longer for people with multiple traumas or a more complex history of trauma.
Who is EMDR not appropriate for?
EMDR is generally not recommended as a starting point for people currently in an active psychotic episode, in an unmanaged substance use crisis, or in a situation where they don't have basic day-to-day safety and stability. It also isn't the right first step for someone whose nervous system is deeply overwhelmed, since processing trauma requires a baseline of regulation to work with. In those situations, we often start with somatic or stabilization work and add EMDR later.
What is the average cost of an EMDR session in Canada?
EMDR sessions in Canada typically cost between 150 and 250 CAD, depending on the therapist's credentials and session length. Most extended health plans cover a portion when the therapist is a registered social worker, counsellor, or psychologist. Sessions are usually 50 minutes, with 90-minute sessions sometimes used once processing begins to allow enough time to open and close the work in a single visit.