8 EMDR Phases, 1 Toolkit: What Every Therapist Needs at Their Fingertips

That moment when you’re not sure whether to keep going or circle back...

You know the one. You’re mid-session, deep in the desensitization phase, and suddenly your client seems overwhelmed, shuts down, or starts looping. Do you pause and return to resourcing, push forward, or switch targets entirely?

Even when you’ve done this work for years, those moments can feel uncertain. EMDR gives you a clear roadmap, but that doesn’t mean the road is always smooth. Real people bring real complexity, memories don’t always appear on cue, regulation isn’t always reliable. And even with the training, you might find yourself asking, “Is this still Phase 4?”

When things start to wobble, it helps to have something you can turn to, something that grounds you in the process without pulling you out of the moment. Something that keeps you anchored so you can keep holding the space.

Because the truth is: even seasoned EMDR therapists get stuck. The difference is what you reach for when you do.

You know the 8 phases by heart, but the work rarely follows a straight line

It’s easy to picture the structure. Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, onward through the familiar eight. But in real-life therapy, EMDR sessions don’t always cooperate with that structure.

One minute, your client is confidently installing a new belief. The next, a body memory hijacks the moment. You think the target has cleared, but reevaluation brings a wave of new material you weren’t expecting. The roadmap is still there, but the journey feels more like a loop-de-loop than a straight highway.

You’ve probably seen this play out:

• A client enters Phase 4 and gets stuck looping the same image

• Resourcing feels thin, and the usual grounding techniques aren’t working

• A target memory feels too vague, too big, or too emotionally distant to anchor into

• Closure is rushed, and the client leaves dysregulated despite your best efforts

These aren’t signs that you’re doing it wrong. They’re signs that the work is layered. That your client’s system is protective. That your own nervous system is managing a lot behind the scenes, too.

And in moments like these, having steady tools makes all the difference.

Let’s talk about what helps.

What if you had something you could reach for, no matter where you are in the process?

Not another theory-heavy textbook. Not a protocol checklist buried in a binder on your office shelf. But something right there on your desk, or open on your tablet, ready to help you decide, “Do we pause and resource, or keep going?”

This is where practical tools come in. Visual prompts, resourcing scripts, decision trees, client worksheets, and cheat sheets that don’t overcomplicate things.

Tools that help you:

• Stay in sync with the protocol

• Respond to your client’s cues without second-guessing

• Feel supported and equipped in real time

You don’t need to be rescued. You just need the right anchor to keep you steady.

That’s exactly what the All-in-One 8-Phase EMDR Toolkit was designed for. It gives you something solid to lean on while you do the deep work you’re already doing.

A phase-by-phase look at how the EMDR Toolkit can support your sessions

This isn’t a replacement for your training, supervision, or skill. It’s your session-sidekick. A practical, comforting reference to guide you when your brain is juggling client regulation, memory networks, and your own clinical intuition.

Let’s walk through each phase and look at what this toolkit can offer.

Phase 1: History Taking

When it feels overwhelming to hold their full trauma history

• Use the Trauma History Questionnaire or Life Events Timeline Worksheet to gather information in a way that’s structured and manageable. These tools help your client recall details in a gentle, non-linear format that eases overwhelm and builds engagement.

• The Core Belief Inventory gives shape to abstract patterns and belief systems, helping you and your client connect themes that are often unconscious. This becomes a foundation for deeper EMDR work later on.

Phase 2: Preparation

When resourcing feels shallow or ineffective

• Pull out the Safe Place Script, Light Stream Visualization, or Spiral Technique to make resourcing more creative and embodied. These aren’t just guided scripts, they offer concrete ways for clients to connect with internal safety and grounding.

• The Flash Technique Guide is especially helpful for clients who get flooded easily or aren’t ready to touch trauma directly. It allows you to help them reduce SUDS without diving fully into reprocessing, which is a game-changer for complex cases.

Phase 3: Assessment

When the client says, “I don’t know what memory to start with”

• Use the Targeting Sequence Flowchart to simplify your decision-making. It gives you a visual map of how to move from presenting issue to target memory.

• The Float-Back Technique prompts help your client gently access earlier memories by tracking emotional and somatic responses.

• And when words are hard to find, the Negative and Positive Cognition Lists offer language that clients can point to, reducing the pressure to articulate complex thoughts from scratch.

Phase 4: Desensitization

When things get stuck or spiral

• The Desensitization Tracker helps you monitor shifts in SUDs and content across BLS sets, so you can stay fully present without losing track of the arc of change.

• If you hit a wall, the Processing Block Management Sheets walk you through what to assess and what to try next, whether it’s looping, flooding, cognitive overengagement, or avoidance.

• Cognitive Interweave Prompts are right there when spontaneous processing stalls. They offer non-disruptive ways to gently shift stuck material.

  
  

Phase 5: Installation

When positive beliefs feel thin or hard to access

• The Positive Cognition Tracker helps you and your client rate and track belief shifts over time, giving form to progress that might otherwise feel abstract.

• The Belief Strengthening Worksheet walks clients through real-life examples, body sensations, and self-affirmation practices to anchor the belief more deeply. It’s especially useful for clients who struggle to “feel” the positive cognition.

Phase 6: Body Scan

When your client says they’re fine, but their shoulders say otherwise

• Use the Body Scan Protocol and Physical Sensation Mapping Tools to slow things down and check for subtle signs of remaining tension or unease.

• The Sensory Word Lists support clients in naming and understanding their internal experience, helping them identify what’s still held in the body without needing advanced somatic training.

Phase 7: Closure

When time is short and you need to stabilize quickly

• Keep the Closure Checklist within reach for fast session endings that still feel intentional and contained. It ensures nothing important gets skipped, even in a pinch.

• The Resilience Toolbox Worksheet helps clients develop a go-to list of strategies they can use between sessions, reinforcing stability and self-efficacy.

Phase 8: Reevaluation

When it’s been a week and you’re not sure what stuck

• Use the Reevaluation Forms to revisit past targets and track VOC/SUD changes over time.

• The Progress Reflection Prompts offer clients a chance to explore shifts in thoughts, body sensations, and behavior. They help you collaboratively decide whether a memory is fully processed or needs more work.

  
  

Bringing these tools into session doesn’t just help your client. It helps you. It allows you to stay grounded, flexible, and clear-eyed, even when things are messy. So whether you're navigating dissociation, uncertainty, or just trying to keep track of it all, this toolkit is there to lighten your load.

You don’t have to hold it all in your head

There’s a certain pressure that comes with EMDR, an internalized sense that you should always know what to do next. That you should have the exact right question, the right interweave, the perfect resourcing exercise ready to go. But therapy doesn’t unfold in neat, predictable arcs. It’s dynamic. And it’s deeply human.

The truth is, trying to hold every phase, every technique, and every possible turn in your head is exhausting. It leads to decision fatigue. Self-doubt. And sometimes even burnout.

This toolkit doesn’t just help your client move forward. It helps you stay present. With visuals and scripts that cue your memory, worksheets that guide your flow, and gentle prompts that support your decision-making, you can stay grounded in your role as the attuned, adaptable therapist your client needs.

You’re already doing the hard part. Let the toolkit carry some of the rest.

Gentle Observation: You became an EMDR therapist because you believe in deep healing. In transformation. In helping people untangle the past so they can step more fully into their lives. But doing that work doesn’t mean carrying it all on your own.

Having the right tools doesn’t make you any less skilled. It just makes the work more sustainable.

So the next time you find yourself in that quiet moment of doubt, mid-phase, mid-session, mid-loop, know that you don’t have to figure it all out alone.

Reach for what helps. Ground yourself in what you already know. And let this toolkit do what it’s made for, supporting you while you support others.

Ready to bring more ease into your EMDR sessions? Click here to get the All-in-One 8-Phase EMDR Toolkit.

Jemma (Gentle Observations Team)

P.S. If you're a Therapy Resource Library member, all the activities in each phase are already included in your membership. Find them all in the Therapy Type Category: Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing. Log in here.

P.P.S. If you're not a member yet, you can get this toolkit as a standalone resource above, or learn more about joining the full Therapy Resource Library here.