EMDR Basic Training

Licensed
To be accepted for the EMDR Resource Center basic training in EMDR therapy program you must be licensed for independent practice as a mental health clinician or meet alternate EMDR International Association eligibility criteria.

Prelicensed
Graduate students, post-graduate pre-licensed clinicians, and non licensed clinicians must submit additional documentation with their application. See the “Non Licensed Applicant Instructions” on the Registration Forms page.

Alternate Eligibility
Clinicians who have completed or who are enrolled in a program in Art Therapy or Drug and Alcohol Counseling must contact EMDRIA about their program in order to determine their eligibility. If EMDRIA approves your education and licensure status, please submit approval documentation from EMDRIA with your application.

Participants will describe key principles of the Adaptive Information Processing Model and the elements of Shapiro’s (2018) and Leeds’s (2016) models of maladaptive memory networks.

Participants will determine whether clients meet standardized criteria for readiness for EMDR reprocessing or need extended preparation.

Participants will use standardized assessment tools or structured interviews to screen all prospective clients for dissociative disorders before using any bilateral stimulation procedures.

Participants will describe a framework for case conceptualization and will organize and implement a planned sequence of targets for EMDR reprocessing.

Participants will describe the purpose and carry out with adequate fidelity each of the steps in the Assessment Phase (Three) and the Reprocessing Phases (Four, Five and Six) of the standard EMDR procedural steps.

Participants will provide effective stabilization and manualized EMDR therapy to individuals suffering from civilian and combat PTSD, panic attacks and specific phobias of traumatic origin.

Participants will recognize when to offer an interweave selected from the themes of Responsibility, Safety and Choice and when to “stay out of the way.”

40 CEUs will be available for this training. 

Yes.

In fact, our EMDRIA Approved Basic Training in EMDR Therapy provides more hours of lecture and practice with additional training exercises than in the historic approach that had a “Part 1” and “Part 2”.

EMDRIA no longer recognizes specific “parts” of basic training such as Part 1 or Part 2 (or Part 3). These basic training segments represent varieties of training models offered by different EMDRIA-approved providers of basic training.

EMDRIA sets minimum standards for lecture (20 hours), practice (20 hours), and consultation (10 hours) and leaves it up to each provider to propose a training model and structure to meet EMDRIA standards. EMDR Resource Center’s Basic Training in EMDR Therapy is offered as a series of four, two-day training weekends scheduled approximately three to four weeks apart. With our training, there is no “Part 1” or “Part 2,” just one complete, comprehensive basic training.

With our training, you sign up for one complete training with a specific training schedule. Upon completion of our Basic Training in EMDR (equivalent to what was formerly referred to as Part 1 and Part 2), you will have earned the right to refer to yourself as an “EMDR Trained” therapist and will be using EMDR in your current clinical setting.

If you completed “Part 1” from another training provider, it is not possible to register for a “part” of our training to complete “Part 2.”

EMDR Resource Center’s Basic Training in EMDR Therapy is offered as a series of four, two-day trainings scheduled over approximately 16 weeks. With our training, there is no “Part 1” or “Part 2,” just one complete, comprehensive basic training.

If you were only partially trained, you will be required to attend all 8 days of our training to receive your certificate of completion.

Unfortunately, this is not an option. 

The EMDR Basic Training provided by EMDR Resource Center is a sequential learning program which builds progressively on learning experiences over each of the eight days of training. 

During the training, there are practice exercises that involve sequential, supervised practice of the skills being taught in the training. It is not possible to miss one full day or module and make it up via home study or private consultation.  Please check your dates carefully.

EMDRIA requirements state that participants must attend all training days and actively participate in all supervised practice exercises and group consultation sessions to receive a Certificate of Completion for this training. Similarly, CE granting organizations require participation and completion of all program activities to earn CEs. Neither CEs nor documentation of program completion may be granted for partial attendance. 

We believe that committing and investing in the 8-day training is a smart use of your time and money. Our paced, comprehensive, and sequential curriculum, combined with exceptional content, creates a superior program for professional development and your learning and mastery of EMDR Therapy.

The EMDR International Association requires that students who register for the training be enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program in the mental health field (Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology, Psychiatry, Psychiatric Nursing, Social Work) or related mental health discipline. Students must have completed their core graduate academic coursework and must be in the practicum/internship portion of their graduate program. Graduate students must be on a licensing track and working under the supervision of a fully licensed mental health clinician. Unfortunately, first-year graduate students are not eligible to take the training.

Therefore, as long as you meet the above criteria and will be starting your internship or practicum before the training takes place, you are eligible to register for the training.

All EMDRIA approved providers of basic training in EMDR Therapy are required to provide at least 10 hours of consultation.

Some providers of basic training do not include the cost of all 10 required hours of consultation in their listed tuition. 

Also, most providers do not include these 10 hours in the standard training schedule. Instead, most require participants to attend separately scheduled consultation sessions, or to find a consultant on their own and then schedule and pay for these sessions privately. 

At EMDR Resource Center, the cost of all required hours of consultation is included in the listed tuition. We integrate 10 hours of consultation into the standard training schedule of the second, third, and fourth modules.

At EMDR Resource Center, we closely support you in your learning process by providing forms and scripts to assist you in practicing, documenting your clinical experiences, and integrating the material into your clinical practice.

Completing your basic training is just the beginning of your professional development with EMDR Therapy. After you complete your Basic Training in EMDR Therapy, we strongly encourage you to continue consultation regularly with an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and work toward becoming an EMDRIA Certified Therapist.

Unfortunately, no. 

Completing an EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) approved Basic Training in EMDR Therapy is the first step.  

After completing the basic training (any basic training), you are considered trained in EMDR Therapy.  

Licensed mental health professionals are eligible for full clinical membership in EMDRIA. Interns are eligible for associate membership and can upgrade to full membership upon licensure. 

After completing the basic training, you may wish to pursue EMDRIA Certification. The requirements for EMDR certification by EMDRIA are described in detail on EMDRIA’s website.

With that said, completing your basic training is just the beginning of your professional development with EMDR Therapy. After you complete your Basic Training in EMDR Therapy, we strongly encourage you to continue to obtain consultation regularly from an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and work toward becoming an EMDRIA Certified Therapist. 

Generally, to become certified in EMDR Therapy EMDRIA requires that you:

• have at least two years’ experience in your field
• have conducted at least 50 EMDR sessions with at least 25 clients
• have received 20 hours of consultation by an Approved Consultant in EMDR Therapy (after completing your Basic Training)
• have completed 12 hours of EMDRIA Credits (continuing education in EMDR)
• provide letter(s) of recommendation from one or more Approved Consultant(s) in EMDR Therapy regarding your use of EMDR Therapy
• provide two letters of recommendation
• verify that you agree to adhere to EMDRIA’s Professional Code of Conduct

Yes.

The training curriculum of our Basic Training in EMDR Therapy is organized to address the fact that most clinicians treat relatively few cases of single incident adult or child trauma and instead treat mostly complex cases with co-occurring conditions. At EMDR Resource Center you will learn how to apply EMDR Therapy to these complex cases with confidence by learning a case conceptualization model that in informed by: 1) an attachment theory application, 2) the Theory of Structural Dissociation of the Personality and dissociation screening, and 3) Francine Shapiro’s Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. 

At EMDR Resource Center, our integrated approach to treatment planning and target sequencing for EMDR Therapy strengthens your ability to organize your work with your clients whether they are ready for EMDR reprocessing or require a more prolonged preparation before appropriately beginning reprocessing. 

Our basic training builds the conceptual, perceptual and procedural skills that you need to confidently integrate EMDR Therapy into your daily clinical practice with real-world, complex cases.

Unless you have an active caseload, you may not register for our Basic Training in EMDR. You need to have a minimum of two cases in your clinical caseload with which you conduct individual psychotherapy in order to practice the skills learned in the EMDR Therapy training.

EMDR Resource Center focuses on the application of EMDR Therapy in the treatment of disorders and symptoms related to trauma and neglect for children and adults. Participants will be required to discuss their clinical experiences in applying what they learn in EMDR Therapy over the course of the Basic Training program.

Our goal is to ensure that all participants have sufficient education and clinical experience to begin applying EMDR Therapy over the course of the Basic Training and to have access to a clinical setting where the use of EMDR Therapy is appropriate and possible.

During consultation sessions included in parts 2, 3, and 4, each clinician presents for about 20 minutes and receives feedback from an Approved Consultant member of staff about their clinical experiences applying the procedures covered in previous weekends. So, during your individual time, you will be discussing your work with child or adolescent clients. Other members of your group (typically 8 or so) might also be working with children or adolescents. There is a wide range of clinical settings and our participants cover them all.

There is a brief lecture segment during Weekend 3 that addresses modifications of EMDR suitable for children. However, the training standards within EMDRIA and EMDR Europe emphasize basic training for the adult population. In these models, treating children and adolescents is considered a specialty area to be addressed by attending advanced workshops after basic training. There are several excellent advanced training programs offered about EMDR with children and adolescents including live workshops, webinars, and conference presentations that have been audio recorded.

If this is your specialty, our recommendation is to purchase the textbook and workbook by Robbie Adler-Tapia and Carolyn Settle and to study these before and during the EMDR Resource Center training in addition to Dr. Leeds’s textbook. They are the foundational books for the application of EMDR to younger clients.

EMDR and the Art of Psychotherapy with Children: Infants to Adolescents Treatment Manual, 2nd Edition

EMDR and the Art of Psychotherapy with Children, Second Edition: Infants to Adolescents, 2nd Edition

You can sign up for courses with EMDR Resource Center even if you’re not based in the United States. However, be sure to check if your country or geographic area has an EMDR governing body. There is EMDR Australia, EMDR UK, EMDR Europe and EMDR Asia. Check those sights as appropriate for information about training in your area.