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EMDRIA spent several years surveying consultants, running focus groups, and reviewing the supervision literature before releasing updated Approved Consultant Standards, implemented in January 2026. Three changes matter most if you're planning your path.
The VER form replaced recommendation letters. Consultants who work with you now complete a standardized Verification, Evaluation, and Recommendation (VER) form instead of writing a traditional letter. EMDRIA made this change so evaluations rest on observable competencies rather than how persuasive someone's prose is.
There's a required timeline. You cannot submit your consultant application sooner than one year after declaring your Consultant in Training status, and you must complete the process within five years of that declaration date.
Two consultant courses are now required. EMDRIA added two free courses, Foundations of EMDR Consultation and Core Competencies in EMDR Consultation, to the application requirements.
Consultants credentialed before the update do not need to reapply, though renewals now follow the new standards.
The Pathway at a Glance
Every number in the table below comes from EMDRIA's 2026 requirements. It's worth bookmarking their Consultant in Training FAQ page too, since details can shift between standards reviews.
Requirement
What EMDRIA Asks For
Prerequisite
Current EMDRIA Certified Therapist™ credential, maintained throughout
Declaration
CIT Declaration Form submitted to EMDRIA before any hours count
Clinical experience
300 EMDR sessions with at least 75 different clients (your certification sessions count toward this)
Consultation you provide
At least 5 consultees and 15 total hours; at least 3 consultees must have fully completed an EMDRIA approved Basic Training
Consultation you receive
20 hours of consultation of consultation, at least 10 individual, from up to 3 Approved Consultants
Continuing education
12 EMDRIA Credits, including two required consultant courses (free through EMDRIA OnDemand)
Evaluation
CIT Verification, Evaluation, and Recommendation (VER) form from each consultant you worked with
Timeline
No sooner than 1 year after declaring, no later than 5 years
Step 1: Become an EMDRIA Certified Therapist First
There's no shortcut around this one. EMDRIA requires you to hold a current Certified Therapist™ credential before you can even declare your intent to become a consultant. If your certification lapses along the way, your CIT status goes with it.
The logic is straightforward. Consultation means evaluating other clinicians' fidelity to the standard protocol, and certification is how EMDRIA verifies you've demonstrated that fidelity yourself. If you're still working toward certification, that's your current step, and our EMDR Certification page walks through what it involves.
Step 2: Declare Your CIT Status
Once certified, you complete EMDRIA's Consultant in Training Declaration Form. This is a real gate, not paperwork to file later. Consultation of consultation hours completed before your declaration date do not count, no exceptions, so declare before you start accruing anything.
Your declaration date starts two clocks. You cannot submit your consultant application until at least one year has passed. And you must finish everything within five years, or the declaration expires. EMDRIA added the one-year minimum deliberately: consultation skills develop through repetition and feedback over time, not through a sprint of stacked hours.
When you declare, you agree to maintain your certification, name the Approved Consultant(s) you're working with, and follow EMDRIA policies. You can start working on requirements immediately after declaring, including during that first year.
Step 3: Build Your Clinical Experience
The consultant application requires 300 EMDR sessions with at least 75 different clients. Before that number alarms you, note that the sessions you documented for certification count toward it. If you logged 50 sessions with 25 clients for your certification application, you need 250 more sessions with 25 more clients.
Most certified therapists practicing EMDR regularly cross this threshold without trying. If EMDR is central to your caseload, three or four client sessions a week gets you there within the required window. The requirement exists to guarantee that the person evaluating other clinicians' EMDR work has done a great deal of it themselves.
Step 4: Provide Consultation to at Least Five Consultees
Here's where you actually become a consultant, by consulting. EMDRIA requires you to work with at least five different consultees and provide at least 15 consultation hours total. The 15 hours are cumulative across all consultees, not per person. Three hours with each of five consultees satisfies it.
One composition rule matters: at least three of your five consultees must have already completed an EMDRIA approved Basic Training in its entirety. The other two can be trainees still working through Basic Training, but only with permission from both your consultant and the EMDRIA Approved Trainer running that training.
Finding those five consultees is, honestly, where many CITs stall. You're newly stepping into the role, you don't have a referral pipeline yet, and cold-advertising consultation services feels strange. This is a solvable problem, and it's one of the specific things a structured consultant training program removes, since a program with its own Basic Training cohorts can connect you directly with clinicians who need hours.
Step 5: Receive 20 Hours of Consultation of Consultation
While you consult, you also receive consultation on your consulting. EMDRIA calls this consultation of consultation: an Approved Consultant observes and reviews how you support your consultees, then gives you feedback on your feedback.
The requirements are specific. You need 20 hours total, and at least 10 must be individual. The rest can be individual, group, or a mix. Only Approved Consultants can provide these hours; another CIT cannot. You can spread the hours across up to three consultants, but no more than three will count toward your application, a limit EMDRIA set so each consultant knows your work well enough to evaluate it meaningfully.
A few boundary rules to know before you schedule anything. No more than two hours of consultation can be counted in a single day. Consultation with a spouse, partner, or family member is an ethics violation and won't be accepted. And if your consultant observes you leading a live consultation group, only half of that observation time counts, though a debrief afterward can earn full credit for the debrief itself.
Step 6: Complete Your EMDRIA Credits
The application requires 12 EMDRIA Credits. Two courses are mandatory and free through EMDRIA OnDemand: Foundations of EMDR Consultation and Core Competencies in EMDR Consultation. Together they carry 3 credits, leaving 9 to complete through other EMDRIA Credit programming. Auditing a full Basic Training, start to finish with a completion certificate, can substitute for those 9 credits, and it's genuinely useful review before you start evaluating trainees on the same material.
Step 7: The VER Form and Your Application
When your hours and credits are complete, each consultant you worked with submits the CIT Verification, Evaluation, and Recommendation (VER) form online. This form replaced the traditional recommendation letters, and EMDRIA will not accept anything else from your consultants. The form verifies your hours and evaluates your competencies against the published standards. A recommendation must come from the consultant who provided the majority of your consultation of consultation hours.
From there, you submit the application with your documentation and the non-refundable fee, no earlier than one year after your declaration date. EMDRIA reviews, follows up if anything needs clarifying, and issues the credential.
Where CITs Actually Get Stuck
The requirements are clear on paper. In practice, the same few snags come up again and again:
Counting hours from before the declaration date. They don't count. Declare first, always.
Spreading hours across too many consultants. Only three consultants' hours will be accepted, and the recommendation must come from whoever provided the majority.
Struggling to find five consultees. The most common stall point, and the best reason to pursue the credential inside a program that supplies consultees rather than alone.
Leaving the required courses for last. They're free and short. Take them early; they'll make your first consultation of consultation hours more productive.
Trying to compress the timeline. Between the one-year minimum, the two-hour daily cap, and the pace of real consultee work, this credential rewards steady rhythm over intensity.
Ready to Become an EMDRIA Approved Consultant?
Knowing the requirements is one thing. Finding consultees, getting honest feedback on your consultation skills, and having somewhere to ask the awkward questions is another. That second part is what most CITs end up piecing together alone.
Our EMDR Consultant Training is an EMDRIA-aligned, year-long Consultant in Training internship built so you don't have to. Inside the program you get:
20 hours of consultation of consultation, structured as 10 individual and 10 group, matching EMDRIA's requirement exactly
A dedicated group of EMDR Basic Training therapists to consult with, so you are not hunting for your five consultees
Shadowing opportunities with TTI Basic Training and consultation groups, so you watch before you lead
A step-by-step CIT Core Competencies checklist, the TTI EMDR Consultant Training Manual, and an online consultant hub with scripts, protocols, and tools
Mentorship from multiple TTI faculty members with diverse clinical specialties
Membership in our Consultant Network, including a monthly consultant connection space and a private consultant channel, plus a feature on our team page once you complete the program
$3,600 total, with financing and flexible monthly payment plans available
You will learn inside our Shame-Free Spaces for Learning, where being a consultant in training means you get to be real, make mistakes, and grow without performance pressure.
Through Monday, September 21st at 11:59 PM Central, Consultant Training is 10% off: $3,600$3,240. Application-based; you must apply by September 21st to be considered at the anniversary rate.
Do I have to be an EMDRIA Certified Therapist before starting?
Yes. Certification is a hard prerequisite. You cannot declare CIT status or count any hours toward the consultant application until you hold a current EMDRIA Certified Therapist™ credential, and it must stay current the entire time.
How long does it take to become an EMDRIA Approved Consultant?
At minimum, one year from the date you submit your CIT Declaration Form, because EMDRIA will not accept applications sooner. You have up to five years from that date to complete everything. Most CITs land somewhere between one and two years, depending on how quickly they build a consultee caseload.
Do my certification sessions count toward the 300 session requirement?
Yes. The 50 sessions with 25 clients you documented for certification count, so you need 250 additional sessions with at least 25 additional clients to reach 300 sessions with 75 clients.
What replaced the recommendation letters?
The CIT Verification, Evaluation, and Recommendation (VER) form, introduced with the 2026 standards. Each consultant you worked with completes the online form, which verifies your hours and evaluates your competencies. EMDRIA accepts no other documentation from consultants, and your recommendation must come from the consultant who provided the majority of your hours.
What is consultation of consultation?
It's consultation you receive on the consultation you provide. An EMDRIA Approved Consultant reviews how you support and give feedback to your consultees, either through your case material or by observing you, then helps you sharpen your skills as a consultant. You need 20 hours, at least 10 of them individual.
Can a Consultant in Training provide my consultation of consultation hours?
No. Only current EMDRIA Approved Consultants™ can provide the 20 consultation of consultation hours. A CIT can, however, provide up to 15 of the 20 consultation hours for someone pursuing certification.
References
EMDR International Association. (2026). EMDRIA Approved Consultant™ standards. https://www.emdria.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/EMDRIA-Approved-Consultant-Standards.pdf
EMDR International Association. (2026). EMDRIA Approved Consultant in Training™ FAQs. https://www.emdria.org/emdr-training/emdr-consultant-in-training/
This post was originally published on the 4th April, 2025.
