EMDR and Brainspotting Therapy in Montreal, and Virtual Throughout Quebec and Ontario
At Clinic Altera, we are committed to providing somatic, body-based interventions that meet you where you are. We believe healing involves both mind and body. Through approaches such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and Brainspotting, a focused brain-body therapeutic modality that supports transformation, emotional release, and deeper internal regulation, we help access the brain’s natural capacity to heal, guiding you toward relief, integration, and a steadier internal landscape.
Why EMDR and Brainspotting is Unique
Reprocessing Without Re-Experiencing
EMDR and Brainspotting both allow deep healing without the need to retell traumatic events in detail. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tones, or gentle taps) paired with mindful awareness to help your brain integrate stored emotional charge, while Brainspotting helps you locate and process the body’s stored activation through specific eye positions and attuned presence.
Brain Meets Body
Both modalities honor how trauma and stress live in the nervous system and how emotional healing often requires working through the body as much as through language. These approaches help the brain and body move toward balance, grounding, and integration.
Why We Lean Toward Brainspotting at Clinic Altera
While EMDR has been well established and widely researched for decades, our clinicians often lean toward Brainspotting because it offers a gentler, more flexible, and deeply attuned process. Rather than following a set sequence of steps, Brainspotting allows for organic unfolding led by the client’s body cues and the relational attunement between therapist and client. It can be easily woven into psychodynamic, somatic, or experiential frameworks, making it especially effective for those with complex trauma, attachment wounding, or neurodivergent profiles.
In other words, EMDR provides a structured pathway to resolution, while Brainspotting allows the nervous system to guide the process with nuance and intuition. Many clients describe it as more fluid, embodied, and integrated with the therapeutic relationship — aligning closely with Altera’s relational, trauma-informed philosophy.
“Beneath the surface of the protective parts of trauma survivors there exists an undamaged essence, a Self that is confident, curious, and calm, a Self that has been sheltered from destruction by the various protectors that have emerged in their efforts to ensure survival. Once those protectors trust that it is safe to separate, the Self will spontaneously emerge, and the parts can be enlisted in the healing process
”
How EMDR Works
Preparation and Orientation
We begin with safety, stabilization, and goal-setting. Together, we ensure readiness and build the support needed for the process to feel secure and contained.
Targeted Reprocessing
You’ll bring to focus a memory or a distressing experience. Using bilateral stimulation, your brain naturally reprocesses the emotional material until it becomes less charged.
Integration and Consolidation
As intensity lessens, your system reframes and integrates new meaning, helping you feel lighter, clearer, and more grounded.
Amplifying Other Therapies
EMDR and Brainspotting integrate beautifully with psychodynamic therapy, somatic psychotherapy, intensives, or coaching. They can help move beyond plateaus in traditional talk therapy, unlocking deeper layers of awareness and regulation.
Who These Approaches Are Best For
Individuals processing trauma, emotional overwhelm, or unresolved grief
Parents and caregivers who feel overstimulated or reactive under stress
Clients feeling stuck in talk therapy and seeking deeper, body-based access
Those living with PTSD, anxiety, depression, or chronic tension
People navigating performance anxiety, creative blocks, or leadership stress
Contraindications
Individuals in acute psychiatric crisis or unmanaged psychosis
Those currently experiencing extreme emotional dysregulation without stabilization
Clients lacking the support structures needed to integrate intense somatic experiences
How Brainspotting Works
Attuned Intake
We start by clarifying your goals and readiness, tailoring a Brainspotting approach that complements your journey.
Guided Sessions
With gentle prompts and precise eye-positioning, your clinician helps you locate and hold “brainspots” that link to emotional or somatic activation. Through focused attention and bilateral sound, you access the body’s innate capacity to release and integrate.
Capacity Building
Brainspotting strengthens regulation and resilience, paving the way for transformation in psychotherapy, coaching, or intensives.
Brainspotting and EMDR are available as part of our psychotherapy, coaching, and intensive offerings. To learn more or connect with a clinician trained in these modalities, please reach out to our Clinical Director at admin@clinicaltera.com or book a consultation to explore which approach fits your goals and healing process best.