What Now? Treatment planning.
Beyond the basics of EMDR therapy target processing. How do we optimize the impact of EMDR therapy with your EMDR therapy clients?
So you finished basic EMDR therapy training, you have the hang of target processing, and now you are ready to start implementing EMDR therapy on your own with your client caseload.
This should be easy, right? Just follow the script, right? But how do you determine what targets to process? What do you do when the list of potential trauma targets to process just keeps growing? What if time constraints, client life transitions, budgets, or agency policies limit your session numbers?
For many new EMDR therapists, there is a challenge in bridging the gap between implementing the basics of target processing and truly integrating EMDR therapy in an effective way in their practice with all of the nuances that comes in real-world situations and limitations.
As an EMDR therapy consultant, treatment planning is one of the most commonly discussed topics that I hear from clinicians who are working to integrate EMDR therapy into their practice. Today we will address a few basic steps to consider in EMDR therapy treatment planning.
1. Firmly define your client’s treatment goals, objectives and treatment outcomes.
This may seem like an overly simplified step but stop and consider for a moment. What is the actual goal, that you and the client have identified as their priority for therapy? What do they want to change, reduce or increase? One of the most common mistakes EMDR therapists make is identifying trauma targets to process without considering the connection of the targets to the treatment plan of the client. Knowing your why behind processing the targets that you have selected is an imperative step in being an effective EMDR therapist.
2. Consider your time frame for treatment.
In an ideal world, every client has access to the services they need for optimum healing and treatment outcomes. We all know that in the real world, therapy is limited by budgets, the number of weeks or days enrolled in a program, EAP or Workman’s comp session limits, and major life transitions. A thorough consideration of the practical length of treatment is imperative in making effective treatment plans.
3. Prioritize your impact.
Make sure that your starting point is aligned with what matters most to the client. If you are only able to desensitize a specific trigger, which one is most impactful, intense, or most commonly occur? If you are able to install a resource, which one will be most transferable and applicable to the client’s goals and needs? If there are multiple issue-driven treatment plans that you have or could develop, which one matters the most to the client and their success on a day-to-day basis. Asking simple questions can make the difference between basic effectiveness and true efficiency in EMDR therapy practices.
EMDR therapy is career-long art to integrate into the various stages of your EMDR therapy practice, and keeping these basics in mind can help guide your EMDR practice both now and in the future.
If you are interested in refining your EMDR therapy skills further, desire to become an EMDRIA certified therapist, or are struggling to find your confidence in integrating EMDR therapy in your practice, EMDR consultation Is a great option to consider.
EMDR Consultation hours are available both in person at our Arlington, TX-based counseling practice or virtual format for groups and individuals. Let’s partner together in taking your EMDR therapy practice further.
