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If you’ve been circling EMDR Basic Training for a while, you’ve probably read the research, compared a few programs, and still found yourself wondering the same thing: what is this actually like?
Fair question. Basic Training is a real commitment of time, money, and energy. Before you register, you deserve a clear picture of what happens between day one and your certificate of completion. Here it is.
EMDRIA-approved Basic Training isn’t a weekend workshop. At TTI, EMDR Basic Training is structured in three parts: a three-day Part 1 intensive, a three-day Part 2 intensive, and five monthly group consultation sessions with an EMDRIA-Approved Consultant. Most clinicians finish in about six months, and everything must be completed within a year of your Part 1 start date.
That pacing is intentional. You learn, you practice with real clients, you come back with questions, and you refine. EMDR becomes something you do, not something you once attended a training about.
Here’s the whole program at a glance:
Part 1 covers the history of EMDR, the Adaptive Information Processing model, and all eight phases of the protocol, grounded in Francine Shapiro’s foundational text (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, 3rd edition). You’ll learn how to take a trauma-informed history, prepare and resource clients, assess readiness, build an EMDR treatment plan, and guide reprocessing.
And this is the part most people don’t expect: you practice. Each day includes small-group practicum where you work through the protocol with colleagues, both as clinician and as participant. It’s structured, supported, and far less intimidating than it sounds.
The other thing clinicians are often surprised to learn: you can begin using EMDR with clients right after Part 1. You don’t wait until the full program is done. You start practicing with support behind you, which is exactly how the skill solidifies.
A few months later, Part 2 picks up where your real caseload has taken you. You’ll refresh the eight phases, then go deeper: interweaves, strategies for complex PTSD and early developmental trauma, constricted processing (EMD and EMDr), and best practices for dissociation, addictions, and specialty populations. If you work with veterans or clients with CPTSD, this is where the training earns its keep.
By now you’ve tried EMDR with actual clients, so the questions you bring are sharper and the answers land differently.
Between and after your intensives, you’ll meet monthly with a small consultation group led by an EMDRIA-Approved Consultant. This is where you bring the client who stalled in desensitization, the treatment plan you’re second-guessing, the moment you froze. Ten hours of consultation are built into the program, and most clinicians say it’s the piece that turns training into competence.
EMDR is one of the most researched trauma treatments available. In a foundational randomized trial, the large majority of single-trauma participants no longer met PTSD criteria after just three EMDR sessions (Wilson, Becker, & Tinker, 1995). Research with combat veterans found that most no longer met PTSD criteria after twelve sessions (Carlson et al., 1998). The World Health Organization recommends EMDR as a frontline treatment for PTSD in adults, children, and adolescents (WHO, 2013).
A structured, EMDRIA-approved training is what makes those outcomes reproducible in your office. The lecture gives you the model, the practicum gives you the reps, and consultation gives you the feedback loop.
When you complete both intensives, consultation, your evaluations, and the EMDRIA post-training quiz, you’ll receive your EMDR Basic Training Certificate of Completion, along with 40 CEs (APA, NBCC, and ASWB approved). From there, you can practice EMDR independently or continue toward EMDRIA Certification if you choose. You can review the full program standards in EMDRIA’s requirements for EMDR Basic Training.
Carlson, J. G., Chemtob, C. M., Rusnak, K., Hedlund, N. L., & Muraoka, M. Y. (1998). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 11(1), 3–24.
EMDR International Association. (n.d.). Program requirements for EMDR Basic Training. https://www.emdria.org/emdr-training/program-requirements-for-emdr-basic-training/
Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Trauma Therapist Institute. (2026). EMDR Basic Training. https://www.traumatherapistinstitute.com/EMDR-Basic-Training
Wilson, S. A., Becker, L. A., & Tinker, R. H. (1995). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment for psychologically traumatized individuals. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63(6), 928–937.
World Health Organization. (2013). Guidelines for the management of conditions specifically related to stress. WHO Press.
