Guide
EMDR therapy runs in eight phases: history taking and treatment planning, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure and reevaluation. The first two build the plan and the client’s readiness. Phases three to six reprocess one target at a time. Closure ends every session, finished or not, and reevaluation opens the next. Each phase leaves its own record: the target list, the assessment baseline (image, cognitions, VOC, SUDs, body), the sets and readings, the body scan’s result, how the session closed, and what had changed by the next one.
| Phase | What happens | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. History taking and treatment planning | History, readiness and screening, including for dissociation; the targets are identified: past memories, present triggers and the future the client wants. | Presenting concerns, history, assessment scores, and a target list organized by the three prongs. |
| 2. Preparation | The process is explained and consented to; a stop signal is agreed; calming and containment resources are built; the bilateral stimulation is tried out. | What was explained and consented to, the resources and the client’s response, the stimulation and settings that suited the client. |
| 3. Assessment | One target is set up: the image for its worst part, the negative cognition, the positive cognition and its VOC, the emotions, the SUDs and where it is felt in the body. | Each of those, in the client’s words and with numbers: NC, PC, VOC (1–7), emotions, SUDs (0–10), body location. |
| 4. Desensitization | Sets of bilateral stimulation while the client notices what comes up, following each channel of association until the target’s disturbance is gone. | The kind and number of sets, SUDs whenever it was checked, notable shifts, any interweave and where processing stalled. |
| 5. Installation | The positive cognition, checked and revised if a better one has emerged, is paired with the target and strengthened. | The final PC and the VOC readings, to the ending VOC. |
| 6. Body scan | Holding the target and the PC, the client scans the body for remaining sensation, which is processed until clear. | Clear or not clear, where, and what processing followed. |
| 7. Closure | The client is brought back to a calm, present state whether the target finished or not; what remains is contained; expectations for the days ahead are set. | Complete or incomplete, the closure technique, the client’s state on leaving, safety, between-session instructions. |
| 8. Reevaluation | At the next session, the last target is checked on recall and the time between sessions reviewed; then the clinician decides to continue, move on or return to an earlier phase. | The SUDs on recall, what the client noticed between sessions, and the decision. |
History taking can be one session or many. Its product is a treatment plan that names the targets, and in EMDR that plan has a particular shape: the past memories that set the problem up, starting with the earliest, the present situations that trigger it now, and a future template for how the client wants to respond. Those are the three prongs, and a plan that covers only the past is not finished. The target sequence plan has a free template.
Preparation is measured by readiness rather than by the calendar. Record what the client can do by the end of it: settle with a calm-place exercise, set material aside in a container, stop a set with the agreed signal. If reprocessing later shows the client needs more, returning here is part of the protocol.
Assessment sets the baseline that every later number is read against, so it is worth recording exactly: the image, the negative and positive cognitions in the client’s words, the VOC, the emotions, the SUDs and the body location. SUDs and VOC has the two scales in detail.
Desensitization is where the record most often turns into adjectives. “Client appeared less distressed” cannot be compared across sessions; “SUDs 8 → 5 → 2 over 21 sets” can. Note where processing stalled and what moved it, since that tells the next session where to look.
Installation and the body scan are short, and are often skipped in the record even when they were done in the room. The ending VOC and a clear or not-clear body scan are what show that a target was finished rather than paused.
Many reprocessing sessions end with the target unfinished, so closure is a phase every session gets, not a step after success. For an incomplete session, the record needs the most: where the SUDs stood, what was done to close, and the client’s state on leaving.
Reevaluation starts the next session with the previous target. A SUDs on recall that has held, risen or fallen decides what the session does. Reevaluation also closes a course of treatment, when every target in every prong is checked once more.
In many practices the EMDR-specific record lives outside the record system: a target list on paper, SUDs and VOC in a notebook, set counts nowhere, and a paragraph in the progress note. Three things get lost that way.
Whatever you record in, record those three. intuitiveEMDR was built inside an EMDR practice to keep exactly that record: its session room follows the phases, records each reading and set as it happens, and drafts the progress note from it.
No. Phases one and two can take several sessions before any reprocessing. Once reprocessing begins, a session usually runs from reevaluation into assessment and desensitization, and often ends in closure before installation is reached. Closure happens in every session.
There is no fixed length. History taking and preparation depend on the client’s history and stability; desensitizing one target can take part of a session or several sessions. The phases are an order, not a timetable.
Yes. If reevaluation or desensitization shows the client needs more stabilization, returning to preparation is part of the protocol.
The order targets are processed in: past memories that set the problem up, present situations that trigger it now, and a future template for how the client wants to respond. A complete treatment plan covers all three.
No. It is a summary for clinicians who are trained in EMDR or in training. The phases are taught, practiced and supervised in an EMDR basic training.
intuitiveEMDR’s session room moves through the phases with you, records each SUDs and VOC reading and every set as it happens, and drafts the progress note from that record. There is a free plan: no credit card, no time limit.
Create a free accountThis page is educational material for trained clinicians. It is not a treatment, does not diagnose anything, and is not a substitute for EMDR training, consultation or care from a qualified professional. If you are in crisis, contact your local emergency services.