EMDR Therapy in Saskatoon
Transforming painful memories into strength and resilience.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a powerful, evidence-based approach originally developed to treat trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since then, research has shown that EMDR can also help with a wide range of emotional difficulties, including anxiety, depression, and phobias.
At our practice, EMDR is one of the specialised therapies we offer to help clients move beyond painful memories, reclaim their sense of safety, and live with more ease and confidence.
What is EMDR Therapy?
EMDR Therapy was developed in the late 1980s by Dr. Francine Shapiro. It is based on the understanding that our brains are equipped to naturally heal from distressing experiences—much like the body heals from physical wounds. But when an event is overwhelming, threatening, or traumatic, the brain’s normal processing system can get “stuck.” Instead of becoming part of your past, the memory remains vivid, raw, and easily triggered in the present.
EMDR helps unlock this stuck processing. Through a structured approach that uses bilateral stimulation—often in the form of eye movements, tapping, or sounds—EMDR helps your brain reprocess distressing memories so they lose their emotional intensity. You don’t forget the memory, but it no longer feels as overwhelming or defining.
The result is often a profound sense of relief, clarity, and resilience.
Who Can EMDR Help?
EMDR is best known for its effectiveness in treating trauma and PTSD, but its use has expanded well beyond that. It can benefit people of all ages and backgrounds, and it’s especially valuable if you’ve tried talking therapies but still feel stuck in certain patterns or memories.
EMDR can help with:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from accidents, assault, natural disasters, combat, or medical trauma
Grief and complicated loss
Chronic pain and stress-related conditions
Performance anxiety (e.g. public speaking, exams, sports)
If distressing memories, flashbacks, or triggers keep interfering with your life—or if you carry a sense of fear, shame, or self-doubt that you can’t quite explain—EMDR may provide a path toward healing.
How Does EMDR Work?
EMDR Therapy follows a structured, eight-phase model designed to ensure safety, clarity, and effectiveness. Sessions are usually one-on-one and can vary in length depending on your needs and the complexity of your experiences.
Here’s what the process typically looks like:
1. History Taking and Planning
Your therapist will begin by getting to know your history, current concerns, and goals. Together, you’ll identify target memories, triggers, or themes to work on, while also building trust and safety in the therapeutic relationship.
2. Preparation and Stabilization
Before reprocessing begins, you’ll learn grounding and self-regulation techniques to help you stay calm and present. This stage ensures you feel equipped to handle difficult material as it comes up.
3. Assessment
You and your therapist will choose a specific memory to target. You’ll identify the image, negative belief, and associated emotions and body sensations connected to it, as well as the positive belief you’d like to strengthen.
4. Desensitization (Reprocessing the Memory)
This is the core of EMDR. While focusing on the memory, your therapist will guide you through sets of bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or sounds). Between each set, you’ll briefly pause to notice what comes up—thoughts, feelings, or body sensations. Over time, the distress associated with the memory decreases, and new, healthier perspectives emerge.
5. Installation of Positive Beliefs
As the memory loses its intensity, your therapist helps strengthen a positive, adaptive belief (e.g., “I am safe now,” or “I am strong and in control”).
6. Body Scan
You’ll check in with your body to notice and release any remaining tension linked to the memory, ensuring that healing happens not just mentally, but physically.
7. Closure
Each session ends with grounding techniques to ensure you leave feeling stable and calm, regardless of how much reprocessing occurred.
8. Re-evaluation
At the start of each new session, your therapist will review progress and determine what needs further attention.
Many clients describe EMDR as different from traditional talk therapy. You don’t need to go into detail about every aspect of your trauma, and the process can feel more experiential than conversational. While difficult emotions may surface during reprocessing, the therapist is there to guide and support you, and the structured process ensures you remain safe throughout.
Over time, most clients notice that previously overwhelming memories lose their charge. They may still remember what happened, but the feelings of fear, shame, or helplessness diminish—making room for relief, peace, and empowerment.
What Does EMDR Feel Like?
Our EMDR therapists are skilled at guiding clients through the process with care, respect, and compassion. We understand how vulnerable it can feel to revisit painful experiences, and we take the time to ensure you feel safe, prepared, and supported every step of the way.
With us, you’ll find:
A trauma-informed, client-centred approach
Therapists who honour your pace and readiness
A focus on safety, stability, and resilience-building
Respectful guidance that empowers rather than overwhelms
A supportive environment where your healing journey is prioritized
If distressing memories or past experiences are keeping you stuck, EMDR Therapy can help you move forward. It’s a powerful way to reduce the weight of trauma, shift negative self-beliefs, and reclaim your sense of wellbeing.
Why Choose EMDR with Us?
These are our team members who offer EMDR Therapy:
Ready to Begin Healing?
Connect with us for a free consultation or look at the other counselling services we offer in Saskatoon and online.