The 8 Phases of EMDR — And Why Skipping Any of Them Is a Problem

By Northwest Mental Health Alliance

EMDR is an eight-phase protocol. This structure isn't arbitrary — each phase serves a specific clinical purpose, and the sequence matters. Understanding what the phases are, and what each one does, helps you recognize whether you're receiving EMDR correctly.

We're going to walk through all eight. We're also going to be direct about which phases get skipped most often and what happens when they do.

Phase 1: History-taking and treatment planning

Before any EMDR processing begins, your therapist needs to understand your full clinical picture. This means gathering a thorough history — not just the presenting problem, but your broader life history, current functioning, and any factors that might affect how you respond to trauma processing.

This phase also involves identifying specific target memories: the experiences that will be addressed in treatment and the order in which they'll be approached. EMDR has a specific protocol for sequencing targets that isn't intuitive and isn't optional.

Therapists who skip or rush this phase often do so because it feels slow — it's not the exciting part of EMDR. But it's foundational. Without it, treatment lacks direction and targets may be addressed in an order that activates material the client isn't ready for.

Phase 2: Preparation

Before touching any trauma material, clients need to be prepared. This means psychoeducation about how EMDR works, what to expect during processing, and — critically — the development of internal resources.

Resources are mental anchors: a safe or calm place the client can access internally, a sense of a supportive presence, a felt sense of stability. These resources aren't decoration. During active trauma processing, if things become overwhelming, these resources are what allows the client to regulate and continue.

Skipping preparation and jumping directly into trauma processing is one of the most common and consequential errors in EMDR practice. It removes the safety net. Clients who haven't developed resources can become flooded during processing with no way to stabilize.

Phase 3: Assessment

Before processing a specific memory, the therapist identifies the target precisely — the image, the negative belief associated with it, the desired positive belief, the emotions present, and where they're felt in the body. Baseline measurements are taken.

This isn't paperwork. It's calibration. It establishes exactly what's being targeted and how activated it currently is, so the therapist can track movement during processing.

Phase 4: Desensitization

This is what most people picture when they think of EMDR — the bilateral stimulation phase where active trauma processing occurs. The therapist guides sets of bilateral stimulation while the client holds the target memory in mind, then pauses to check in about what emerged.

The pauses are not optional. Each set of bilateral stimulation is followed by a brief stop where the therapist tracks what's happening and adjusts. Continuous bilateral stimulation for long stretches without checking in is incorrect protocol and can leave clients overwhelmed and unguided.

Phase 5: Installation

Once the emotional charge of the target memory has decreased, the therapist works to strengthen the positive belief the client identified in phase three. This installs the new adaptive meaning — not just "the trauma feels less intense" but "I now genuinely believe something different about myself in relation to it."

Phase 6: Body scan

The client scans through their body while holding the target memory and the positive belief, noticing any remaining tension or discomfort. If physical sensations remain, they are targeted with additional processing until the body is clear.

This phase recognizes that trauma is stored somatically as well as cognitively. Completing processing only at the cognitive level without checking the body misses half the work.

Phase 7: Closure

Every session must end with closure — regardless of whether processing is complete. If the target memory has been fully processed, closure involves containment and grounding. If processing is incomplete, the therapist uses specific techniques to help the client put unprocessed material in a container so they can function safely until the next session.

A session that ends without closure leaves clients with open trauma material and no container for it. This is one of the most harmful errors in EMDR practice. Clients describe leaving sessions feeling destabilized, unable to function, or worse than before they arrived. This is not what EMDR is supposed to produce.

Phase 8: Reevaluation

At the beginning of the next session, the therapist checks in on the previous target. Was the processing complete? Did anything shift between sessions? Are there new aspects that emerged? This ensures treatment is actually moving and allows the plan to be adjusted based on what's happening.

All eight phases. Every time. That's the protocol. That's what makes EMDR safe and effective — not just the bilateral stimulation.

If what you've experienced in EMDR didn't include all of these phases — if sessions jumped quickly into processing, if they ended abruptly, if you never developed resources before touching trauma material — what you received wasn't the complete protocol.

If you want EMDR done correctly, apply for an intake at NWMHA. We respond within 3 business days. →