EMDR worksheets, by phase.
Every EMDR worksheet you reach for in session — Calm/Safe Place, RDI, target sequence, Float-back, NC/PC list, Phase 3 assessment, Container, Light Stream, Flash, between-session log — in one place. Free EMDR worksheets, print-ready, and protocol-tight.
Calm / Safe Place
Anchor a felt-sense resource with a cue word
Walk the client through a vivid sensory image, install with slow BLS, and give them a cue word to return to between sessions.
Resource Development & Installation (RDI)
Nurturer, protector, and wise figures — installed
Help clients identify calm, nurturing, protector, and wise figures, then strengthen each with short sets of bilateral stimulation.
Target Sequence Plan
Past, present, future — sequenced for reprocessing
Organize touchstone memories, current triggers, and future templates into a clean treatment plan you can work through in order.
Float-Back & Affect Bridge
Trace a present trigger to its earliest memory
Use body sensation and the negative cognition as the bridge from a current activation back to the touchstone event.
Negative & Positive Cognitions List
Responsibility, safety, choice — at a glance
Categorized reference of common NCs and matched PCs to support accurate Phase 3 assessment without losing momentum.
Phase 3 Assessment Script
Image, NC, PC, VoC, emotion, SUDs, body
A clean one-page script for setting up a target — image, cognitions, VoC, emotion, SUDs, and body location — without losing the thread.
EMDR Container Install
Close incomplete sessions safely
Help clients visualize a container to hold remaining material between sessions, with installation language and a reopening protocol.
Light Stream Technique
Body-focused closure for residual disturbance
A guided body-scan and imagery script for releasing leftover somatic charge before ending a session.
Flash Technique Worksheet
Low-intensity preparation for high-charge memories
A structured worksheet for using the Flash Technique to reduce disturbance before formal reprocessing.
Between-Session Log
Track dreams, triggers, and new material
A simple client log for noting what comes up between sessions — dreams, body sensations, new memories, shifts in cognition.
Cognitive Interweave Menu
Interweaves for stalled processing
Menu of interweaves grouped by Shapiro's three domains — responsibility, safety, choice. For restarting adaptive processing.
Attachment-Focused Resources
Parnell's four resources
Parnell's four-resource protocol installed before trauma processing: nurturing, protective, wise, and healing figures.
Abreaction Safety Plan
Pre-arranged plan for high-affect processing
Written safety plan for exceeding the window during EMDR — signs, stop signal, grounding sequence, containment.
Blocking Belief Map
When SUDs won't drop
Common blocking beliefs and a tracker for identifying and targeting them via float-back or interweave.
Early Trauma Protocol
Modified 8-phase for pre-verbal / attachment trauma
Extended prep, attachment resources, shorter BLS sets, more interweaves, somatic tracking primary — the modifications for early attachment trauma.
Recent Event Protocol
Shapiro's protocol for the past 3 months
For recent unconsolidated events — process the whole event sequentially, not a single peak image.
Future Template
Phase 8 mental rehearsal
Client rehearses the future situation with the PC installed and body-sense of mastery. Any block returns to targeting.
Body Scan Clearing
Phase 6 residuals become next targets
After SUDs=0 and VoC=7, scan the body with target and PC in mind. Any residual sensation is the next processing target.
EMDR Preparation Checklist
Phase 2 readiness — all green before Phase 3
Full Phase-2 readiness checklist — resources, stop signal, dual awareness, dissociation screening, consent — before moving to targeting.
Eight-Phase Tracker
Session-by-session across all 8 phases
Tracker for phase worked each session, target, SUDs and VoC change, and next step. Prevents drift past a phase before consolidation.
History-Taking & Target List
Phase 1 master target list
Build the ten worst and earliest memories, present triggers, and future template targets that drive the treatment plan.
Dual Attention Check
One foot in past, one in present
Between-set audit of dual awareness with adjustments when the client is only in past or only in present.
Closing an Incomplete Session
Phase 7 closure sequence
Container + calm-safe place + between-session log for when processing is incomplete at time's end.
Resource Tapping Log
Between-session RDI reps
Primary resource + sensory anchors + a week of short RDI reps with VoC tracking.
Float-Back Worksheet
Link the current to the earlier
Current disturbance, negative belief, body location — float back with the belief and body feeling to find the target.
Target Sequencing Plan
Past, present, future
Three past touchstones, present triggers, and the future template — the work built in order.
What EMDR worksheets do
EMDR is a phase-driven protocol. Each phase has its own work: Phase 2 builds resources (Calm Place, RDI, Container, Light Stream) so the nervous system has somewhere to land before reprocessing begins. Phase 3 assesses the target — image, negative cognition, positive cognition, VOC, emotion, SUDs, body location — and the assessment is itself an intervention. Phases 4–6 reprocess, install, and body-scan. Phase 7 closes the session safely. Phase 8 reevaluates next time.
The worksheets in this library are the one-page formats that hold each of those phases. They keep the protocol intact when the room gets activated, give the client something concrete to take home, and make consultation conversations specific instead of vague.
Phase 2 — resourcing and stabilization
Calm/Safe Place is the foundation: a vivid, sensory-rich image the client can return to between sets and between sessions. RDI (Resource Development and Installation) extends this to specific qualities the client needs more of — courage, calm, a wise figure — installed with short bilateral sets. Container holds material the client isn't ready to process yet. Light Stream is the body-based regulation tool for residual sensation at the end of a session.
Do not skip Phase 2. The biggest EMDR rookie mistake is going to target before the client has accessible resources — the work flips into retraumatization fast when there is nowhere safe to come back to.
Phase 3 — target assessment
The Phase 3 Assessment worksheet walks through every element in order: representative image, negative cognition (the felt belief, not the rational thought), positive cognition the client would prefer, VOC 1–7, emotion, SUDs 0–10, body location. The Float-back from the present trigger to the earliest related memory is its own worksheet — it surfaces the touchstone the present-day pattern is rooted in. The NC/PC list gives the client (and you) the standard menu of negative/positive cognition pairs.
Get the assessment tight and reprocessing usually runs cleanly. Get it loose and you spend phases 4–6 chasing an unclear target.
Between sessions
EMDR keeps working between sessions — new memories surface, dreams shift, SUDs continue to drop. The EMDR Between-Session Log captures sleep, dreams, new associations, body shifts, and SUDs drift for the target. Phase 8 reevaluation goes much faster when the client has been logging.
Free to print, free to send
Every worksheet is free to download as PDF and free to send to clients via secure link from your TherapistAssist account. No watermarks, no per-sheet limits. Built for clinicians who care how the page looks.
Frequently asked questions
What are EMDR worksheets?+
EMDR worksheets are structured one-page handouts that operationalize the 8-phase EMDR protocol — resourcing (Calm Place, RDI, Container, Light Stream), Phase 2 stabilization, Phase 3 target assessment (NC/PC, VOC, SUDs, body scan), the Float-back to identify earlier targets, and between-session logs for tracking what comes up between reprocessing sets. Each worksheet turns a phase-specific intervention into a concrete page the client (or clinician) can fill in.
Which EMDR worksheet should I start with?+
Start with Calm/Safe Place in Phase 2 — every EMDR client needs a resource state before reprocessing begins. Add Container next for residual material between sessions. Once stabilization is in place, the Target Sequence Plan organizes Phase 3 onward: present trigger, the touchstone memory it links back to via Float-back, and the future template. The Phase 3 Assessment worksheet keeps the protocol tight session-to-session.
Are these EMDR worksheets free?+
Yes. Every EMDR worksheet on this page is free to download as a clean printable PDF and free to send to a client via secure link from a TherapistAssist account. No watermarks, no per-sheet limits.
Can I send EMDR worksheets to clients between sessions?+
Yes. Sign in and any worksheet on this page can be sent as a secure portal link; the client fills it out on their phone and the response comes back to your dashboard. The Between-Session Log was specifically designed for the gap between reprocessing sessions — sleep, dreams, new associations, SUDs drift.
Are these worksheets EMDRIA-compliant?+
The worksheets follow Francine Shapiro's standard 8-phase protocol as taught in EMDRIA-approved basic training. They are tools for trained EMDR clinicians — they do not substitute for EMDR training, consultation, or certification. If you are not EMDR-trained, do not use these for reprocessing work; the resourcing sheets (Calm Place, Container, Light Stream) are safe for general stabilization use.
Do these cover Phase 8 reevaluation and complex cases?+
The library covers Phases 1–7 in depth. Phase 8 reevaluation work, dissociation screening, and protocol modifications for complex trauma (R-TEP, DeTUR, EMD restricted) are on the roadmap — request a specific worksheet via the feedback link if you need it next.