When Should Therapists Do EMDR Training? Key Factors to Consider Before You Enrol
EMDR therapy is hot right now. Clients are asking for it, media is talking about it and therapists are training in it in increasing numbers. I’ve been an EMDR therapist since 2013 and became an EMDRAA Accredited Consultant about 4 years ago. This means I get asked a lot about EMDR training.
A common question I field from therapists is “Should I train in EMDR therapy?
As well as wanting to offer their clients an effective evidence-based therapy for trauma, therapists are also often worried they are being left behind in the private practice market if they don’t offer EMDR therapy.
How to determine whether EMDR training is right for you
Training in EMDR therapy changed the course of my career. You might assume that due to my longstanding affiliation with EMDR therapy and the benefits I have derived from it professionally that, I would tell therapists considering EMDR training “All therapists should train in EMDR therapy” or “ASAP.”
But you would be wrong.
Completing EMDR training requires a significant investment in time and money. I’ve seen many therapists waste both valuable time, money and in some cases lose confidence in their therapeutic ability by completing EMDR training when the timing wasn’t right or when EMDR therapy isn’t right for the therapist.
Each therapist who asks me this question receives a response based on the following considerations that we review together.
their stage of career
where they currently work
the types of clients they work with and want to work with
how open they are to working with trauma
how willing they are to be with strong emotion
I’ll walk you through why these factors play a crucial role in determining the right time to begin EMDR therapy training.
The stage of your career
Let’s begin with the stage of your career. Training therapists often show keen interest in training EMDR therapy. Students and training therapists are not permitted to enrol in EMDRAA Accredited training, but some provisional psychologists may be permitted to do so. I strongly recommend that provisional psychologists don’t train in EMDR therapy until they are fully qualified. While it is possible to train in EMDR once you are qualified, I also recommend that you wait until you have more experience as a therapist before training in EMDR.
Here’s why I recommend caution when considering EMDR therapy training in early career.
EMDR therapy was never designed to be a standalone therapy or a one stop shop. It relies on you having a number of established therapeutic skills such as assessment and case formulation and general therapy intervention skills. When you are training or in early career these skills are still establishing. You don’t yet have a strong foundation to build your EMDR therapy practice on.
Also, in my opinion, it is preferable if you have prior exposure to working with trauma prior to training in EMDR therapy. When you are in early career, you do not have the exposure to working with traumatised clients that makes integrating EMDR therapy into your practice easier (or less terrifying). Many therapists I meet in consultation are extremely nervous to use EMDR therapy after training. On exploration, this is often because they do not have enough grounded knowledge and experience in working with traumatised clients generally. Learning how to support traumatised clients is a skill in itself and worth spending the time building expertise in prior to EMDR therapy.
If you still want to go ahead as an early career therapist, please do it with the support of regular EMDR Consultation with an accredited Consultant and on on-site supervisor who uses EMDR.
Where you work
Immediately following EMDR therapy training, you need to be able to use it with clients. Research suggests that the majority of therapists who don’t use EMDR therapy within two weeks of their training, will never use it. This means you need to be working in a workplace that allows you to offer EMDR therapy to your clients. For a variety of reasons, some workplaces restrict the use of EMDR therapy. I have met many therapists who wasted time and money because they were unable to use EMDR therapy post-training. Check with your workplace that they will allow you to use EMDR therapy with your clients before signing up to an EMDR training.
If you work place attracts referrals for EMDR already or is willing to market you as an EMDR therapist or if you have existing clients who want EMDR therapy, this is a bonus and makes training in EMDR therapy well worth it as you will be able to begin practicing EMDR therapy on clients soon after your training.
The clients you work with
When considering training in EMDR therapy consider what sort of clients you work with currently and who you want to work with in the future. Do you have clients on your current caseload who are seeking EMDR or would be suitable for EMDR? Given the need to practice EMDR therapy soon after training, if you have no capacity to offer EMDR therapy in the short term because, for the foreseeable future, your books are full of clients who are not suited to EMDR therapy, then consider delaying your EMDR training until you will have the opportunity to do so.
If you want to work with clients who are suitable to EMDR therapy, start to make space for these types of clients.
How open are you to working with trauma?
When you are trained in EMDR therapy, you tend to attract referrals for clients with PTSD and complex trauma histories including significant abuse histories. You will also attract clients who have tried many other therapies and see EMDR as a last resort. As a result, you may find that following EMDR therapy training that the complexity of your referrals and clients increase.
This is welcome for some therapists, but not for others. Whilst it is possible to only take EMDR therapy referrals for specific concerns outside of complex trauma, this is something you will likely need to manage through marketing and triaging of referrals. This is an important consideration for therapists who actively avoid working with trauma due to their own trauma histories or are seeking to reduce the number of complex trauma clients they work with.
How willing are you to work with strong emotion?
Providing experiential interventions often results in clients displaying strong emotion in session. This is no different in EMDR therapy, even though it is sometimes promoted as easier on clients than other trauma therapy approaches. Some therapists avoid experiential and emotion-focused intervention at all costs, preferring psychoeducation-focused, meta-cognitive and coaching approaches to therapy. If you resonate strongly with this sentiment, I don’t recommend training in EMDR therapy.
If you are uncomfortable with clients expressing emotion in session, and you want to become an EMDR therapist, this will be something you need to work on in your own therapy and in supervision.
Final Thoughts
As an EMDR therapist since 2013 and an EMDRAA‑accredited Consultant, I support therapists in navigating the often‑confusing decision about when and whether to pursue EMDR training. Many clinicians feel pressure to “keep up” with the growing demand for EMDR, yet the right timing depends on factors like career stage, workplace context, client mix, comfort with trauma work, and capacity to sit with strong emotion. In supervision, I help therapists think this through carefully so they can make informed, confident decisions about EMDR training and develop the clinical foundations needed to use it safely and effectively.
Nadene van der LInden is a Clinical Psychologist, EMDRAA accredited EMDR Consultant & Therapist, ISST Certified Advanced Therapist and Supervisor in Schema Therapy and Psychology Board Approved Supervisor.
