How to Best Train Clinicians in EMDR

By Rachel Harrison, LCPC

EMDRIA Approved Basic Trainer and Consultant

I am often asked the questions about how to train therapists by group practice owners or supervisors who recognize that there is a lot to learn after graduate school.  Graduate school is a foundation, but then the real development happens as clinicians learn to provide therapy that is beneficial to all different kinds of clients. 

Enter Trauma.  Being a trauma specialist as I am and my staff are, is an added layer of training.  And given that I spend a good deal of my time training therapists and training leaders, the question of how to best train in EMDR comes up frequently.

Now, I hear that not all EMDR trainings are created equal.  I know first hand that is true because my very first training and the way I teach in my trainings are vastly different.  Some of that is content, but a lot of that is style.

For my Training Institute, our belief is that training happens best in a relational setting where individuals can feel comfortable sharing and asking questions.  We also work to provide content in multiple formats: didactic, visual, auditory, experiential and through discussion.  We bring in extra consultants to do just that and to be sure that all of our trainees have access to real time feedback and support while learning EMDR.

But here is the truth:  there is a lot to learn!  I think it takes a full year of using EMDR with consultation to really gain some mastery with it as a clinician.  After years of doing ongoing consultation with groups and individuals after EMDR Basic Training, I found that many of the skills and learning needed to be repeated and then built upon.  I observed the process with many individuals and saw a pattern of growth, and began to train other consultants to do this work as well.  In this process, an idea occurred to me:

What if clinicians could have access to EMDR training material 24/7?

I noticed another theme, that those who were learning EMDR together seemed to be able to support each other, and not feel alone in the process.  So, I thought:

What if we could create a community of learners?

That is how The EMDR Circle was born.  All of the content from Basic Training is accessible in short videos for clinicians to access whenever they need it.  And there is a community including Facebook group, group consultation, and a strong group of clinicians to support consultation needs for both individuals and groups.  We have a lot of advanced training content too, along with tip videos and lots of scripts and tools to use as you learn EMDR.

I personally love the monthly Q & A sessions I have with clinicians to talk about questions and cases, these are then posted for all to learn from.

The EMDR Circle has been going for 2 years now and it is a growing community of like minded EMDR clinicians and consultants all supporting each other on the journey toward excellence with a focus on being humans and being in community.  There is nothing else quite like it out there.  It is my hope that it can support EMDR clinicians at any stage of learning.  For that reason, we have several different levels of membership available, from basic support all the way to everything you need to be certified (yes, including advanced trainings and all the consultation!).

We are committed to supporting the EMDR learning journey at all levels, and offering an experience that is different from any other in the field right now.  Check us out, and if you have questions or if we can support you in your EMDR learning journey, please reach out!