The EMDR Therapist Weekly aims to provide a weekly dose of insights, tools, and opportunities for EMDR therapists; designed to support your growth, sharpen your practice, and connect you with what's next. To achieve this, we occasionally invite subject matter experts as guest writers. I'm excited to introduce another guest writer this week: Amanda Martin, Ph.D., LMFT-S, LPC, BCN-L. With a diverse set of skills and experience - Amanda is a certified EMDR therapist, consultant, and trainer;...
11 days ago • 7 min read
Hey there, Imagine this scenario: Your client has significant childhood sexual trauma. Every time they try to start processing, they freeze. They can identify the memory and feel the distress, but when it comes time for bilateral stimulation, they shut down completely. "I just can’t say it out loud," they say. "Even thinking about describing it to you makes me want to leave." Standard EMDR feels impossible. How do you process a target memory when the client can’t (or won’t) share the details?...
18 days ago • 9 min read
Hey there, Here's a question I've been thinking about lately: What's the difference between a therapist who uses EMDR sometimes with some clients, and an EMDR therapist who uses the framework with all clients? In other words… Is there really a meaningful difference between being trained in EMDR vs. identifying as an EMDR therapist? At first glance, this might seem like a semantic distinction. Who cares what you call yourself as long as you're helping people? But I’ve been doing this a long...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Hey there, As an EMDR therapist working with trauma, here's a question you've probably started hearing more often in the past year or two: "I'm thinking about trying ketamine therapy for my depression. What do you think?" Or maybe it's psilocybin, MDMA, ayahuasca. Maybe your client saw a documentary, read an article, heard a podcast, or knows someone who had a “transformative experience”. And now they're asking you (their EMDR therapist) what you think about it. A few years ago, this was a...
about 1 month ago • 8 min read
Hey there, Recently we talked about EMDR protocols for addiction treatment (DeTUR, CravEx, FSAP) and the technical pieces you need to know to work with substance use disorders. But here's what I didn't talk about: What can happen inside you when you're sitting across from someone in recovery. Specifically, the trust problem. Imagine this scenario: You're three sessions into trauma processing with a client who says they've been sober for six months. They're doing well, engaging with the...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
The EMDR Therapist Weekly aims to provide a weekly dose of insights, tools, and opportunities for EMDR therapists; designed to support your growth, sharpen your practice, and connect you with what's next. To achieve this, we occasionally invite subject matter experts as guest writers. So this week, I'm excited to introduce another guest writer, Gail Neves, LMHC. Gail is a fierce advocate for psychedelic ethics and social justice. They have been practicing trauma focused therapy for 20 years...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
Hey there, Here's a question I get asked fairly often: "Can EMDR help with addiction?" The short answer is yes, but probably not in the way most therapists assume. A lot of therapists think addiction treatment with EMDR means processing the underlying trauma (the childhood abuse, the attachment wounds, the adverse experiences that led to substance use). Then the client stays sober because you've resolved the root cause. And sure, that's part of it. Most clients with substance use disorders do...
2 months ago • 6 min read
Hey there, Imagine this scenario: You're in session with a client who's stuck. They can't access the target memory clearly, as everything feels vague and distant. You've already performed five rounds of bilateral stimulation, nothing is happening, they're getting frustrated, and you're mentally cycling through every EMDR technique you know. And now you're stuck. So after the session, you post in a Facebook group, "Client stuck after multiple attempts at BLS and no movement. Any suggestions?"...
2 months ago • 4 min read
The EMDR Therapist Weekly aims to provide a weekly dose of insights, tools, and opportunities for EMDR therapists; designed to support your growth, sharpen your practice, and connect you with what's next. To achieve this, we like to invite subject matter experts as guest writers. This week I'm excited to introduce our newest guest writer, Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC. Alex Penrod, MS, LPC, LCDC, is the founder of Neuro Nuance Therapy and EMDR, PLLC, an EMDR-primary psychotherapy practice in...
2 months ago • 5 min read