Spiritual Foundations in EMDR

Description: 

In EMDR, one of the most critical components is establishing a strong and healthy foundation for the therapeutic work. This begins with building rapport, conducting a thorough history-taking process, and developing internal resources. A comprehensive bio-psycho-social-spiritual assessment guides this phase, ensuring that the client is well-prepared for reprocessing. With this foundation, clients are more likely to stay within their window of tolerance able to process without becoming overwhelmed or dissociating.

In this training, we will explore all eight phases of the EMDR protocol, grounded in the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. You’ll also learn how to thoughtfully integrate your client’s belief systems into the work, even when their theology or understanding of God differs from your own. The goal is to support healing in a way that honors both the EMDR model and the client’s spiritual framework.

The trainer approaches life from a Judeo-Christian faith background, while also bringing extensive experience working with individuals from a variety of spiritual and religious traditions. In this training, we will explore how to engage meaningfully with clients who share our beliefs, as well as those whose faith backgrounds differ from our own with respect, curiosity, and clinical integrity.

Pre-requisites: This training requires participants to first take an EMDR basic training before taking this advanced training. Participants are required to be post basic training, however are not required to be certified in EMDR.