EMDR is one of the most rigorously researched trauma treatments available — recognised by the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association, and UK NICE as a first-line intervention for PTSD. It works by helping the brain complete the natural processing that was interrupted at the time of the original experience.
What Is EMDR Therapy?
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychotherapy developed by Dr Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. It is built on a core insight: the brain has a natural processing system that integrates difficult experience into long-term memory — but when an experience is overwhelming, that system can stall, leaving the memory stuck in its original raw, charged form.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation — typically guided eye movements, but also taps or tones — to help that processing complete. The memory does not go away; you do not forget what happened. But the body sensations, intense emotions, and negative beliefs attached to the memory lose their grip. You can remember without reliving.
At Newmarket Therapy Centre, EMDR is offered by therapists who have completed formal EMDR training (basic and often advanced levels). It is used as a standalone trauma treatment and in integrative work with somatic therapy, IFS, and EFT.
The Eight Phases of EMDR
EMDR is a structured eight-phase protocol. Not every phase is a single session — some unfold across multiple sessions, others within one. The structure ensures safety, thoroughness, and durable change.
History & Treatment Planning
Your therapist takes a careful history of the experiences that may be contributing to your current difficulties, and identifies specific targets for EMDR processing.
Preparation
Before any processing begins, you build internal resources — grounding skills, calm-place imagery, and the capacity to regulate your nervous system. This phase is foundational and is never rushed.
Assessment
For each memory targeted, you and your therapist identify the most disturbing image, the negative belief attached, the desired positive belief, the emotion, and the body sensations. Baseline measurements are taken.
Desensitization
Using bilateral stimulation, you process the targeted memory in short sets, with your therapist guiding the pace. The intensity of the memory progressively reduces.
Installation
Once the disturbance has reduced, the positive belief identified in Phase 3 is strengthened and linked to the memory — completing the cognitive shift.
Body Scan
A scan of body sensations confirms whether any residual physical tension remains. EMDR is complete when the memory is processed across cognitive, emotional, and somatic levels.
Closure
Each session ends with stabilisation — ensuring you leave grounded, regulated, and connected to your resources. No session ends in the middle of activation.
Reevaluation
Subsequent sessions begin with a check on previous targets — ensuring the work has held and identifying any further targets that need attention.
EMDR does not erase what happened. It changes how it is stored — so the memory becomes something you remember rather than something you continue to relive.
Newmarket Therapy CentreHow EMDR Works at Newmarket Therapy Centre
EMDR at Newmarket Therapy Centre is paced carefully and never rushed. Phases 1 and 2 (history-taking and preparation) often take several sessions before any processing begins. Safety and stabilisation always come first.
- 01
A free intake call with Susan
Our Client Care Manager Susan will listen to what is bringing you in and match you with an EMDR-trained therapist whose training and relational fit are right for your work.
- 02
History-taking and preparation
Early sessions are about understanding your history, identifying targets for processing, and building the internal resources you will draw on during EMDR work. This phase is foundational.
- 03
Processing with bilateral stimulation
When you and your therapist are both ready, processing sessions begin — using eye movements, taps, or tones to help the brain complete what was interrupted.
- 04
Integration and ongoing reevaluation
As targets are processed, the changes integrate into daily life. Your therapist regularly checks in on previously processed material and identifies what comes next.
The Benefits of EMDR
EMDR has extensive empirical support across trauma, PTSD, and a wide range of presentations with experiential roots. For many people it produces results that talk therapy alone has not achieved.
- Internationally recognised first-line treatment for PTSD
- Reduced intensity of traumatic memories and flashbacks
- Diminished hyperarousal and reactivity
- Lasting change at cognitive, emotional, and somatic levels
- Healing of single-incident and complex trauma
- Effective for anxiety, panic, phobias, and grief
- No requirement to narrate traumatic events in detail
- Often produces noticeable change within 6-12 sessions for simple trauma
- Suitable for combining with somatic and parts-based work
- Available in person and virtually with adapted protocols
What EMDR Is Used For
EMDR is used for a wide range of presentations with roots in unprocessed experience — from acute trauma to long-standing patterns shaped by early life.
EMDR at Newmarket Therapy Centre
Our EMDR-trained Registered Psychotherapists and Social Workers at Newmarket Therapy Centre have completed formal EMDR training (basic and in some cases advanced or EMDRIA-approved). EMDR is available for individuals and adolescents.
Sessions are available in person at Newmarket Therapy Centre or online for clients anywhere in Ontario, with adapted protocols for virtual delivery. If you are specifically seeking EMDR, please mention this when you contact us so Susan can match you with an EMDR-trained therapist on our team.
Ready to Get Started?
Our intake team is here to answer your questions and match you with the right EMDR-trained therapist at Newmarket Therapy Centre. No commitment required.