Sandra Wieland, PhD.
Registered Psychologist

Individual therapy for children, adolescents, &adults
Consultation for therapists

Clinical Practice

• What is EMDR?
• What is play therapy?
• Parents's role in their child's therapy
• Stopping the Cycle

Types of training and consultation provided:

• Therapy - The Brain's Second Chance (.pdf file)
• The Internalization Model
• Dissociation: Creative Coping
• An Important Form of Therapy for Children - EMDR (.pdf file)

The Centre for Counselling and Therapy

Professional Credentials

Publications

Contact information

Home

What is EMDR?

EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) is a process during which an individual thinks about something while the therapist directs side-to-side eye movement (or some other alternating side-to-side stimulation).

This stimulation seems to enable an individual (child or adult) to access many pieces of information-both from the past and the present, both emotional and intellectual - thus enabling the individual to work through issues more rapidly than with talk or play therapy alone.

EMDR has been found to help build an individual's sense of safety and capability. EMDR has been found to assist in working through distressing thoughts or memories which may feel frozen inside. The stimulation from EMDR seems to help the brain to restart processing and to work through distress.

Research:
Client reports, controlled studies and MRI (brain imaging) studies have shown shifts following EMDR: these include more positive feelings about oneself, better functioning in present situations and change in neural activity.

Problems that can be addressed through EMDR:

EMDR is helpful with children, adolescents and adults.

The type of stimulation (eye movement, hand/knee tapping, computer program, alternating sounds, hand-held pulsars) used depends on the individual's age and comfort.

The individual is always in control of the process-when to start, when to stop and just how much to describe to the therapist.