Clinicians: Five Things You Should Know Before EMDR Training

You have heard so much about EMDR as a powerful, complicated, must-have trauma treatment modality. You know you need something robust, and almost magical, to give you a framework for helping those hard to help clients, many of whom have buckets of trauma and no shortage of present-day struggles.

Here are a few things I wish I knew before I walked into my Basic EMDR Training.

1. EMDR, although incredibly powerful, is no longer the big and scary thing clinicians (and clients) found it to be 15 years ago.

Up-to-date trainings reflect a shift from the early days. You will learn to fractionate, pendulate, titrate, educate, and integrate to support your clients through pacing, preparation, and education, and to help the work move as smoothly as possible.

You will learn the whole model, and there are many ways to bring pieces of it into your clinical work as you build your skill set. You will be a beginner for a while, and that’s okay.

2. EMDR Basic Training, like EMDR itself, can feel like a mental and emotional workout!

You will be shifting back and forth between being a learner, a therapist, and an observer. EMDR training gives you so much more than just an effective trauma treatment modality.

You will gain foundational knowledge about how the brain deals with different types of memories, how the nervous system regulates and shifts between states, and how internal systems protect their human from discomfort and whichever risks feel most salient.

You will feel lost and overwhelmed at times. You will experience aha moments and “I’m so glad I’m learning this” moments too.

3. This training will shift the way you conceptualize cases and what you have to offer your clients.

Once you understand the AIP model, which is the premise of EMDR, you will not be able to unsee the connections between past experiences and present behaviors, symptoms, reactions, and patterns.

This means you will have a very different and empowering way to understand your own behavior and everyone else’s, quirky nuances included.

4. Who you train with matters.

Not all EMDRIA-approved trainers teach to the same depth or have extensive knowledge of complex trauma, substance use, eating disorders, or whatever you are treating. You will still get the Basic Training, but it might take more effort to integrate it if you choose a trainer with a different area of expertise.

Pick a trainer who is on top of changes in the field, has experience with your population, makes you think and laugh, and has a video or two out there so you can have confidence that they teach in a way that resonates with your learning style. This helps you to make sure you don’t mind listening to said trainer talk for hours on end!

5. This training is about way more than an investment in your career and your clients.

We all like learning and getting to add some respectable letters to our bios, but you will also be joining a huge community of badass, trauma wise, thoughtful clinicians who are always finding more effective and respectful ways to bring healing to the world.

The organization you train with can shape how you enter that community. Depending on where you train, you may have access to ongoing consultation and learning, updated training materials, clinical resources, and relationships with other newly trained and experienced EMDR clinicians.

Basic Training is the beginning of your journey, and having a community to learn with, ask questions of, and grow alongside can make the transition from training into actual EMDR practice much smoother and more rewarding.

Laura McKeon, LCSW, LAC is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and EMDR Basic Training Coach with EMDR Consulting. She works with EMDRIA Approved Trainer Paula Merucci, LCSW, CADC,