Completing EMDR Basic Training is a foundational professional achievement — but for many clinicians, the path from training to consistent, confident practice is not a straight line. Caseload demands, limited opportunities to practice early on, or the inherent complexity of trauma work can all create gaps between what was learned in training and what feels accessible in the session room. If that description resonates with you, an EMDR refresher course may be exactly what your practice needs.
This article explains why many trained EMDR clinicians seek additional structured review, what a well-designed EMDR refresher course covers, and how returning to the fundamentals of EMDR therapy with fresh context and clinical examples can meaningfully strengthen your competence and confidence.
Why EMDR Clinicians Sometimes Need to Return to the Fundamentals
It is more common than many clinicians realize. You completed an EMDRIA-approved EMDR Basic Training — perhaps a year ago, perhaps several years ago — but somewhere along the way, EMDR did not become a consistent part of your practice. Maybe your caseload shifted. Maybe your early EMDR cases were more complex than expected. Maybe you found yourself hesitating at the start of the reprocessing phases and defaulting back to familiar modalities.
These experiences do not reflect a failure of training or ability. EMDR therapy is a sophisticated, skills-based model, and procedural fluency develops over time and through repeated application. Clinical confidence in EMDR — the kind that allows a therapist to move fluidly through the eight phases, respond adaptively to blocked processing, and hold steady during complex reprocessing — typically requires more than a single training experience.
Common Experiences That Lead Clinicians to Seek Refresher Training
- Completing EMDR Basic Training but not consistently applying it due to caseload, setting, or clinical population constraints
- Feeling uncertain about specific protocol steps, particularly in Phases 3 through 7
- Difficulty with case conceptualization and target sequencing — knowing where to start with a complex client history
- Questions about client readiness and preparation, especially with clients who have limited affect regulation capacity
- Uncertainty about how to respond when processing becomes blocked or a client appears to plateau
- Returning to EMDR after a significant break and finding that procedural memory has faded
- Preparing to pursue EMDRIA Certified Therapist status and wanting to ensure foundational competency before engaging in consultation
None of these experiences are unusual, and all of them are addressable. A well-structured EMDR refresher course provides the combination of didactic review, clinical demonstration, and practical application that helps clinicians close the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
What the EMDR Therapy Refresher Course Covers
The EMDR Therapy Refresher Course offered by Scaling Up is a structured, multi-module online training designed specifically for clinicians who have already completed an EMDRIA-approved Basic Training program. It is not a repeat of Basic Training — it is a clinically informed review that builds on what you already know, fills in gaps, and helps you apply the model with greater confidence and fidelity.
The course is delivered through a combination of didactic content and recorded webinar demonstrations, with options for consultation and supervised practicum in certain training formats. Clinicians can engage with the material at their own pace while maintaining access to the structured review sequence the course is built around.
Core Content Areas
The refresher course covers the full scope of EMDR therapy practice, with particular attention to the areas where trained clinicians most frequently report uncertainty:
- The 8 phases of EMDR therapy — a thorough review of each phase, with emphasis on clinical decision-making and phase-to-phase transitions
- The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model — the theoretical foundation of EMDR and its application to treatment planning and case conceptualization
- Screening and readiness processes — how to assess whether a client is ready for EMDR reprocessing, and how to support readiness when it is not yet present
- Case conceptualization — developing a coherent understanding of a client’s clinical presentation through an EMDR lens
- Treatment planning and target sequencing — identifying which memories, experiences, or beliefs to target first and how to sequence that work across the treatment arc
- Strategies for blocked processing — recognizing when processing has stalled and selecting appropriate interweaves or adjustments to restore movement
- Working with complex PTSD and dissociation — adapting EMDR protocols for clients whose trauma presentations involve structural complexity, fragmentation, or dissociative features
- Approaches for working with children and adolescents — adapting the standard EMDR protocol for younger clients, including developmental considerations and modified language
What Clinicians Will Be Able to Do After Completing the Course
The EMDR refresher course is designed with clear, practical learning outcomes. Clinicians who complete the training will be better equipped to:
- Describe the eight phases of EMDR therapy and articulate the clinical rationale for each phase
- Apply the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model to inform treatment planning and case conceptualization decisions
- Identify when a client is — and is not — ready for EMDR reprocessing, and develop appropriate preparation plans
- Develop effective target sequencing strategies for clients with single-incident trauma and complex multi-incident histories
- Recognize the signs of blocked processing and select appropriate clinical responses, including the use of cognitive, affective, and somatic interweaves
- Work more confidently and effectively with complex trauma presentations, including clients with PTSD, complex PTSD, and dissociative features
These outcomes are grounded in the clinical standards established by EMDRIA for EMDR therapy practice. For the most current information on EMDRIA’s standards and training requirements, visit emdria.org.
Continuing Education Credits Through EMDRIA
Clinicians who complete the EMDR refresher course and meet participation requirements are eligible to receive 10 continuing education credits through EMDRIA. These credits can be applied toward professional development requirements and are documented through EMDRIA’s CE system.
For clinicians pursuing EMDRIA Certified Therapist status, continuing education in EMDR therapy is a valued component of the certification pathway. The refresher course provides a structured, documented way to build CE hours while also strengthening clinical skills — making it a practical investment for clinicians at multiple stages of their EMDR professional development.
Clinicians should verify CE applicability with their individual licensing boards, as requirements vary by state and discipline.
Who Should Consider an EMDR Refresher Course?
The EMDR refresher course is designed for clinicians who have already completed EMDR Basic Training and are looking to strengthen, re-engage with, or deepen their EMDR practice. It is not designed for clinicians who have not yet completed Basic Training.
The course is particularly well-suited for:
- Therapists who completed EMDR training several years ago and have not maintained consistent practice since their original training
- Clinicians returning to EMDR after a break in which EMDR was not a regular part of their caseload
- Therapists who want stronger case conceptualization skills and a more systematic approach to treatment planning and target sequencing
- Clinicians preparing to pursue EMDRIA certification who want to ensure their foundational EMDR competency is solid before beginning formal consultation hours
- Therapists working with complex trauma, dissociation, or children and adolescents who want additional guidance on protocol adaptation for these populations
- Clinicians who felt less confident after Basic Training and want a structured opportunity to revisit core concepts with more clinical context and demonstration
Why Structured Review Supports Long-Term EMDR Competency
EMDR therapy is not a modality that clinicians master in a single training. Like most evidence-based, phase-based treatment models, EMDR competency develops through repeated application, reflective practice, and ongoing learning. The EMDR professional training landscape recognizes this — which is why EMDRIA’s pathway to certification includes not just Basic Training but also ongoing consultation and continuing education.
A structured EMDR refresher course occupies an important place in that developmental arc. It provides something that Basic Training, by necessity, cannot: the benefit of clinical experience. Clinicians who have attempted EMDR with actual clients — and encountered the real-world complexity that training role-plays only partially simulate — are in a fundamentally different position to learn. The concepts land differently. The clinical examples resonate more directly. The questions are sharper.
Refresher training is not remediation. It is a professional investment in deepening a skill set that is already in progress — and it reflects the kind of commitment to clinical growth that the clients you serve deserve.
Ready to Rebuild Confidence in Your EMDR Practice?
If you completed EMDR Basic Training and have found yourself hesitating to use it — or using it less consistently than you’d like — you are not alone, and there is a clear next step available to you.
The EMDR refresher course offered by Scaling Up is designed to meet you where you are: honoring the training you have already completed, addressing the gaps that clinical experience has revealed, and giving you the structured review, clinical demonstration, and practical tools you need to move forward with confidence.
With 10 EMDRIA-approved continuing education credits and a curriculum that covers everything from the AIP model to complex trauma and dissociation, this course is a meaningful investment in your clinical effectiveness and professional development.
To learn more about the course structure, modules, and registration, visit the EMDR Therapy Refresher Course page. If you have questions about whether this course is the right fit for your current stage of EMDR practice, Scaling Up’s team is available to help you think it through.