For clinicians · EMDR guide
EMDR therapy — a clinician's guide to eye movement desensitization and reprocessing
EMDR is Francine Shapiro's memory-focused trauma treatment, built on the Adaptive Information Processing model. This guide walks the eight phases, the AIP frame, and the printable EMDR worksheets clinicians use for history taking, resourcing, target sequencing, floatback, and close-out.
The Adaptive Information Processing model
AIP frames symptoms as unprocessed memory. When an event overwhelms the system, the brain stores it in raw sensory / emotional form rather than integrated with the client's adaptive network. EMDR uses dual attention and bilateral stimulation to help the memory move from that state-dependent storage into ordinary autobiographical memory.
The eight phases
Phase 1 — History taking
Screen for suitability, identify targets, sequence them, get informed consent.
Phase 2 — Preparation
Resource development: calm place, container, protective figures, tapping-in resources. Don't rush past this phase.
Phase 3 — Assessment
For each target: image, negative cognition, positive cognition, VOC, emotion, SUDS, body location.
Phase 4 — Desensitization
Bilateral sets while holding the target. SUDS re-rated between sets until it reaches 0–1.
Phase 5 — Installation
Bilateral sets to strengthen the positive cognition until VOC reaches 6–7.
Phase 6 — Body scan
Bilateral sets to clear any residual body disturbance associated with the target.
Phase 7 — Closure
Re-regulate before session ends — calm place, container, resource tap-in. Never leave the client mid-reprocessing.
Phase 8 — Reevaluation
Check the target next session; verify the gains held; identify the next target.
Core EMDR worksheets
Phase 1 worksheet — presenting problems, worst memories (Top 10), touchstone events, blocking beliefs.
Open worksheet →Phase 2 — track resource development: calm place, protective figures, wise-figure, nurturing figure — and the tapping-in reps.
Open worksheet →Order the targets — usually past → present → future template — with negative/positive cognitions for each.
Open worksheet →Trace a current trigger back to earlier memories carrying the same NC — a common way to surface the touchstone.
Open worksheet →Confirm dual attention is intact — one foot past, one foot present — before continuing bilateral sets.
Open worksheet →Phase 7 protocol when the target isn't fully reprocessed — container, calm place, journaling instructions between sessions.
Open worksheet →Frequently asked questions
- What is EMDR therapy?
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is an evidence-based trauma treatment developed by Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s. It uses bilateral stimulation (eye movements, tapping, or tones) while the client holds a distressing memory in mind, and it's built on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model — the assumption that trauma is unprocessed memory the brain hasn't yet metabolized.
- What are the eight phases of EMDR?
- 1) History taking, 2) Preparation (resourcing, safe place), 3) Assessment (target, image, NC, PC, VOC, emotion, SUDS, body scan), 4) Desensitization (bilateral sets until SUDS drops), 5) Installation (of the positive cognition), 6) Body scan, 7) Closure (re-regulate before ending), 8) Reevaluation (check progress next session).
- What is dual attention?
- Dual attention is EMDR's mechanism-adjacent: the client holds one foot in the past (the memory) and one foot in the present (the bilateral stimulus). It's thought to be a key ingredient in why EMDR reprocesses rather than re-traumatizes.
- How is EMDR different from talk therapy for trauma?
- EMDR is memory-focused and structured, not narrative-focused. Rather than talking about the trauma in depth, the client holds it in mind while doing bilateral stimulation, and the material shifts on its own between sets. It's typically faster than exposure-based approaches but requires training and careful resourcing.
- Are your EMDR worksheets aligned with Shapiro's protocol?
- Yes. Our EMDR worksheets follow the standard Shapiro protocol — history taking and target sequencing, resource development (calm place, tapping-in), floatback, and close-out for incomplete sessions. See /resources/emdr.
The full EMDR worksheet library
Phase 1–8 protocol worksheets, resourcing logs, floatback, target sequencing, close-out for incomplete sessions. Aligned with Shapiro's standard protocol.
Related guides
Continue with another modality — same clinician-facing format.
Beck's cognitive model, thought records, behavioral activation, exposure.
Managers, firefighters, exiles, and Self-energy — the internal family systems model.
IFS, Ego State Therapy, Voice Dialogue, Schema Modes — a model-agnostic protocol.
Polyvagal-informed practice, window of tolerance, bottom-up stabilization.
Structural, Bowenian, strategic, experiential — genograms, roles, boundaries, repair.