EMDR Therapy
Cut through to the root,
not the stories.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is one of the most researched approaches to moving what's stuck — the moments your body still reacts to as though they're happening now, even though your mind knows they're over. It's over. Your body didn't get the memo. I offer EMDR one-to-one, and in a short, structured group format called G-TEP for stress from a recent difficult event. No need to share the details.
Not the story — just what it left behind.
What is EMDR?
When something overwhelming happens, the brain doesn't always file it away the way it does an ordinary memory. Instead, it can get stored in a raw, unprocessed form — still carrying the original emotion, body sensation, or fear. When something in daily life brushes up against it, that unprocessed material gets triggered, and you can react with the same intensity as if it were happening for the first time.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation — guided eye movements, alternating taps, or sound — while you briefly bring the memory to mind. This appears to help the brain finish the processing it didn't complete at the time, so the memory can settle into the past where it belongs. Developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s, it is now one of the most widely researched trauma therapies available.
One-to-one
Individual EMDR
Private sessions, paced entirely around you. This is the depth option: a specific memory, a long-standing pattern, or lineage and childhood material that needs real time, a full history taken first and the full standard protocol.
Small group
Group EMDR — G-TEP
Group Traumatic Episode Protocol: up to 3 sessions of 90 minutes for stress from a recent difficult event, in a small, screened cohort. You process your own material privately, alongside others doing the same, without needing to describe what happened. This isn't the full depth of the longer container. It's a touch point.
One-to-One EMDR — What to Expect
We start with a proper history — what's actually going on, what you want to be different, and whether EMDR is the right fit before we begin. From there, sessions follow a structured protocol, but the pace is set by what your system can hold, not a script.
Together, we precisely pinpoint the pivotal moments in your life that have impacted you and left an imprint that is no longer yours to carry forward. Working intentionally with the subconscious, we rewire the beliefs you hold about yourself into ones that support and nourish your flourishing.
Sessions are typically weekly. We may also draw on breathwork or somatic awareness alongside EMDR when it is useful — always with your consent, and always explained before we do it.
Group EMDR (G-TEP)
It's 11pm and you're replaying one sentence from that conversation for the fourth time.
G-TEP is for one recent moment that won't let go: the argument, the birth, the client or team conversation. It applies the same EMDR principles as individual sessions in a small group container, a gentle way to ease the charge without unpacking the story. Since something recent, you might notice...
- You replay the conversation or argument at 11pm, word for word
- You're on edge, jumpy, quick to snap at your partner or your kids
- Your sleep has changed
- Things that wouldn't normally get to you do
- You can't concentrate or settle
- You tell everyone it's over, and it isn't over inside
What's happening: Your body can stay on alert long after the event has passed. G-TEP (Group Traumatic Episode Protocol) is a structured, evidence-based EMDR group protocol designed to support stabilisation and resilience.
Find your cohort
- Mums: A hard moment in early motherhood or birth is still replaying
- Business owners: A difficult client, team or money moment is still looping
- Pregnant women: Frightening news or a past birth story is circling
- Aspiring entrepreneurs: A rejection or criticism has you hiding when you meant to show up
You process it. You don't perform it. No need to share the details of what happened.
What to expect
- Worksheet activities: drawing and a few words, any language welcome
- Grounding
- Gentle tapping
- Strength-based and future-focused work
Voluntary, and you can pause or stop at any time.
Now it looks like this
- Replay loses its charge
- Calmer evenings and easier sleep
- More patience at home, less overwhelm
- You feel like yourself again
Details: up to 3 sessions · 90 minutes · weekday afternoons · short screening first.
Small print: this group is a supportive, structured process and not a substitute for individual mental health care. If symptoms are severe or persistent, please speak with your GP or a mental health professional.
I'd never done anything like Liv's group EMDR session before, and wow, it was so insightful. Moving through my timeline from past to present, I could see how certain fragments of a traumatic experience held more power over me than others, and how working through them in sequence gradually took that power away.
For me, it was genuinely liberating. I could feel the experience being integrated and released from my body. When I took myself back to that memory afterwards, I noticed a real shift in how I felt, both emotionally and physically.
The shift is swift, and you come away feeling more confident in yourself, because you're truly leading your own healing while Liv guides you so effortlessly. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who feels they're still holding onto past trauma.
Is This Right for You?
EMDR — either format — may be a fit if you've experienced one or more distressing events, recent or long past, and notice them still shaping your triggers, reactions, or patterns that don't quite make sense given where you are now.
Group EMDR is held in small, screened cohorts. Every G-TEP participant completes a short screening before joining, so the container stays safe for everyone in it.
Continue the work in a deeper container
Want something longer? The Fully Rooted. Fully You program is six weeks, live online, with three group EMDR sessions and three breathwork and Emerald Akashic Records journeys, by application.
Ready to enquire?
Olivia Maxwell is a Masters-trained, former registered psychologist and certified EMDR practitioner. Content on this page is educational and doesn't replace an individual clinical assessment.
If you're currently in crisis, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or your local emergency service before booking.