What’s the difference between a flashforward and a future template in EMDR?

In my supervision groups we talk a lot about our clients fears and their hopes for the future. In doing this future focused work we often need to clarify the difference between a flashforward and a future template. Read on if you too would like more clarification on this.  What is a flashforward? The flashforward protocol was developed by Robin Logie and Ad de Jongh Click here to read their paper. It was originally developed Read more…

3 tips for creating a helpful Case Conceptualisation in EMDR.

I trained in EMDR back in 2005. I really can’t remember there being much covered about case conceptualisation in EMDR. It’s something that I now have constantly in the back of my head when I am working with my clients. Like my approach to a lot of things, I really do try to keep things simple. So if you want to find out more about how develop helpful case conceptualisations, please do read on. I Read more…

3 ways EMDR informed coaching can help your clients

Do you see clients who want to do really well at something. It could be a job interview. How they perform in a meeting. Achieving a sporting goal. Being able to publish things on social media? But somehow it feels unachievable, undoable, not possible? As EMDR therapists, we can help our clients using EMDR informed coaching to help enhance their performance. I can remember being a newly qualified Psychologist and being fearful of talking in Read more…

What's the best EMDR protocol to use for

What’s the best EMDR protocol to use for ….?

Now this is a question that comes up a lot in my supervision sessions. Often early on and often when we are just starting to develop an understanding of the client and their difficulties. My supervisees will often ask me “what’s the best EMDR prototcol to use for …. (insert main diagnosis). So if this question also comes into your mind find out more, and please do read on. Most of the time my answer Read more…

How long should it take to Complete a phase 3 Assessment?

How long should it take to complete a Phase 3 Assesment?

Confession time… For many years I misunderstood the whole point of completing a Phase 3 Assessment with my clients. I saw it as a tick box exercise. I thought that I had to get it perfectly right before I could proceed to the really important work of processing the trauma memory. Sometimes in my early work, I would take a full session doing this assessment!! You might want to hear more about the realisation I Read more…

Getting the most out of EMDR supervision

4 tips to get the most out of your EMDR Supervision.

If you want to think how you can get the most out of your EMDR supervision sessions, please read ahead.  When I think about me receiving supervision there are 2 main things that I want from it. I want to feel contained, supported, that it is safe to be vulnerable and talk through difficulties. After supervision I want to have some ideas of what I can do to help and serve people better. I would Read more…

Recognising and working with Abreactions in EMDR.

In this blog post I will look at what an abreaction is. I will explore how it fits into our work as therapists and how we can work with that abreaction. If that sounds like it may be interesting to you, please do read on. What is an abreaction? Abreaction is a term that has it’s origination in Psychoanalysis. The Collins dictionary defines in as “the release and expression of emotional tension associated with repressed Read more…

Do we always process the earliest memory first in EMDR? Touchstone memories in EMDR!!

This question gets discussed time and time again in my supervision sessions. It’s something that causes a lot of confusion. Many therapists believe that we have to go back to the clients earliest difficult memory. If you are interested in thinking more about this then please do read on. It gets confusing because in the EMDR community we use so many different words to describe the memories. We use the term feeder memories. We talk Read more…

When should we use Cognitive Interweaves in EMDR therapy?

It’s hard to spot those moments in our therapy sessions when we might use a cognitive interweave in EMDR. These are used to help our clients move on with their processing. So in this blog we think about when to use interweaves and why we might use them. Read on if that’s the info that you are looking for.  Firstly, let’s remind ourselves what an interweave is. What is a cognitive interweave? Francine Shapiro initially Read more…

How to get the positive cognition up to 7

Phase 5 in the standard treatment protocol is looking at installing the positive cognition. So after the trauma memory has been processed and worked through, we can proceed to focus on the most positive thing the person can say about themselves. But we need to remember that this is when they think of the trauma they experienced. In the standard protocol we ask the client to hold together the trauma memory, the words from the Read more…