Telehealth EMDR Therapy

Whether you're seeking relief from trauma, anxiety, or emotional distress, our online EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) services offer a compassionate, evidence-based approach to healing - all from the comfort of your home.

What is EMDR therapy?

EMDR is a highly-effective, structured therapy designed to help you process and heal from past traumas and emotional distress. By focusing on specific distressing memories and experiences, EMDR encourages your brain to naturally reprocess these experiences, reducing their emotional impact and helping you move forward.

EMDRIA has the following two resources explaining EMDR:

The eight phases of EMDR therapy:

History Taking & Treatment Planning – We start by understanding your history, current challenges, and goals. This helps us create a personalised treatment plan.
Preparation – You’ll learn important coping strategies and grounding techniques to help you feel safe and confident before starting deeper work.
Assessment – Together, we identify the distressing memories and beliefs that we will focus on.
Desensitization – You’ll focus on the traumatic memory while we guide you through bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements or tapping), helping your brain reprocess the trauma.
Installation – We work to strengthen positive beliefs and feelings that replace the old negative ones.
Body Scan – We’ll check in with your body to ensure there’s no lingering physical tension, promoting full emotional release.
Closure – Each session concludes with techniques to help you feel grounded and ready to carry on with your day.
Reevaluation – At the beginning of each new session, we’ll review your progress and adjust the plan as needed.

Is telehealth EMDR therapy effective?

Research has shown that online EMDR therapy is just as effective as in-person sessions. The core elements of EMDR, such as guided eye movements and bilateral stimulation, work just as well in a virtual setting. The convenience of accessing therapy from your own home often helps clients feel more at ease, allowing them to open up more fully and experience progress faster.

Who is suitable for telehealth EMDR therapy?

Telehealth EMDR is effective for adults dealing with:

PTSD or trauma (including childhood trauma)
Anxiety or panic disorders
Depression
Grief and loss
Phobias
Stress from life transitions

However, not everyone may be ready to start EMDR right away. Some individuals may first need to develop coping skills or stabilise their mental health before diving into trauma processing. We’ll work together to ensure that EMDR is introduced at the right time for you.

EMDR may be right for you if:

You feel emotionally stuck due to past traumatic experiences.
You’re frequently triggered by reminders of a difficult event.
You have anxiety, panic attacks, or difficulty regulating emotions despite trying other therapies.
You’re ready to release the emotional weight of your past and move toward healing.

Request an appointment

FAQs for Telehealth EMDR Therapy

See below for our frequently asked questions, if you have any other questions please get in touch via our contact page.

How do I choose between the Telehealth EMDR therapy and the individual therapy offered in HSCPS?

Telehealth EMDR focuses on rapidly healing past trauma through a structured, experiential process. It may be more suitable for you if you...

prefer to focus on healing emotional wounds from the past without needing to revisit them in detail
feel comfortable with following a very structured approach that moves from preparation and resource-building to the processing of specific memories, and ends with integrating positive beliefs. This creates a clear roadmap for healing.
want to accelerate the healing process by directly addressing unresolved trauma in a focused manner. Many people see significant progress after a handful of sessions, making it a more goal-oriented form of therapy.
want to resolve distressing memories and their lingering emotional effects. The goal is to reduce or eliminate the emotional charge of past traumas so you can live more freely in the present.

Individual therapy relies more on discussion, reflection, and gradual self-awareness over time. It may be more suitable for you if you...

prefer focus on talking through experiences and understanding patterns in your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. The process often involves exploring your past and present, and insight-oriented discussions.
feel more comfortable with more open-ended and flexible sessions where the direction of each meeting is guided by your current concerns or emotions. There may not be a set structure from session to session.
prefer to spend time on deep exploration of past events, current challenges, and emotional patterns over a longer period. While it can be effective, progress may occur at a slower pace.
want to focus on a variety of issues, from relationships to coping with stress via problem solving and emotional support. It is typically more oriented around insight and self-reflection.

How long and how much is a Telehealth EMDR session?

All Telehealth EMDR sessions are scheduled as Extended sessions on Friday only

An extended is 90 minutes, with the consultation typically running for about 75 minutes. Yvonne 's fee is $420 for a 75-minute consultation ($278.15 out-of-pocket fee if you have a valid doctor referral, with a rebate of $141.85)

The remaining 15 minutes is for Yvonne to complete her session note, prepare for further appointments, provide progress reports to GPs, and ‘as a buffer’ in case the session runs longer than anticipated and as to not disrupt the next client.

Do I need a referral and/or a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP)?

You don't need a referral to see Yvonne (self-referred). However, you may choose to have your GP involved in your care while you work with Yvonne. If you wish to do so, you may book a long consultation with your GP to discuss your eligibility for a Mental Health Treatment Plan (MHTP). If your GP deems you as eligible for one, you will receive a Medicare rebate for up to ten sessions in a calendar year.

If you have a referral from a Psychiatrist or a Paediatrician under the Better Access Initiative, you are entitled to the same Medicare rebate for up to ten sessions in a calendar year.

Currently, the Medicare rebate for a consultation of at least 50 minutes with a clinical psychologist is $141.85. You will only receive the rebate from Medicare if the session has been attended and paid for. Please send or bring along your referral letter (and the MTHP if you have one) at or before your initial session with Yvonne.

When you use your referral to see Yvonne, your doctor is involved in your care. This means Yvonne will provide a report required by Medicare to communicate with your doctor about your treatment progress after your 6th and the 10th sessions. This report is usually completed in session with you, so you know what is written in the report.

For more information about a MHTP, please visit: https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-health-treatment-plan

Can I get a rebate with my private health insurance?

If you have "Extras" in your private health insurance, you may be covered part of the session fee. As different insurance packages may provide different coverage, we recommend that you check with your insurer about the amount you will receive for each psychotherapy session to be sure. If you claim through your private health insurance, you will be provided a receipt after the session to submit a claim to your insurer.

As a general rule, you can only claim rebate from only ONE third-party for each therapy session (e.g., either private health insurer OR Medicare), not both.

Do you accept referrals from any funding bodies?

Yvonne offers support to any who accesses services as a self-referred client, with or without a doctor's referral or a self-managed NDIS plan.

Yvonne currently does not offer services through plan- or agency-managed NDIS, DVA Open Arms or WorkCover.

How many sessions will I need?

Single-Event Trauma

For a single traumatic event (like a car accident, natural disaster, or assault), treatment is often shorter. Typically 3 to 12 EMDR sessions may be sufficient for many people to process and resolve the trauma. However, the exact number of sessions depends on factors like the intensity of the trauma, the individual's history, and their response to treatment.

Complex PTSD (cPTSD)

cPTSD usually involves multiple traumas over a prolonged period (such as ongoing abuse, neglect, or chronic childhood trauma), and the treatment can take considerably longer. Many individuals may need months or even over a year of weekly sessions to fully process the layers of trauma, depending on the complexity and severity of the trauma.

How do I book an initial session?

To request an appointment as a new client, you can easily do so here. After you submit your request, you will receive an automated email from Halaxy which will include a link to our online intake form with the Client Information and Consent Form. We may also arrange a 10-minute intake phone call with you to ensure we can provide the support you need, and for you to ask any questions you may have (including questions regarding the online form). You don't need to complete the form unless you have decided to make an appointment with Yvonne; in which case, please try to complete the form (and send through any relevant documents) before your first appointment. Your appointment will only be confirmed after you submit your online form.

Sometimes we may not be able to provide the support you need. If that is the case, we will offer other options if we are not the best fit.

If you can’t find our emails (including in the junk box), please contact us via email or using this form to have another one resent.

What if I am late or I cannot attend my scheduled appointment?

Arriving late:

Once you have booked an appointment, that scheduled time slot is reserved for you. If you are going to be late for your appointment, your appointment will still end at the scheduled finish time, and the fee for a full session will be charged. For clients receiving a Medicare rebate, the rebate amount may be reduced depending on the length of time in attendance.

Please note that a no-show is considered to have happened if a client is late for 20 minutes or more for the scheduled appointment.

No-show, late re-scheduling and late cancellation:

Once you have booked an appointment, that scheduled time slot is reserved for you. If you cannot attend your appointment, please contact us or use the Halaxy link provided in the confirmation email for that specific session to cancel or re-schedule your appointment as early as possible. Late re-scheduling, late cancellation and no-show means that we cannot offer that appointment to support another person.

In situations where no-show or late notice for re-scheduling/cancellation happens, cancellation policy applies.

no-show/more than 20 minutes late: 100% of the appointment fee
late notice for re-scheduling/cancellation within 24 hours / 1 day (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays in the ACT): 100% of the appointment fee
late notice for re-scheduling/cancellation within 48 hours / 2 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays in the ACT): 50% of the appointment fee

The fee and the transaction fee charged by Halaxy (1.9% + $1.00) will be automatically charged to the nominated debit/credit card on Halaxy. If not available, an invoice will be sent via email for payment.

Please note that Medicare does not provide rebate for canceled appointments. Any outstanding fee must be cleared before your next scheduled appointment.

For further information, please see our Cancellation Policy page.

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