EMDR Phase Eight: Re-evaluation

You’ve been going to therapy but you’re really not sure if you’ve been making progress. You really don’t feel any differently and you’re wondering if it’s been worth it - but you don’t want to give up on the hope that feeling better is even possible!

Why re-evaluate in EMDR?

In EMDR Therapy, we regularly re-check our work! Many times my clients don’t realize the depth of their healing until we’ve re-checked the targets we’ve already processed. They’re often surprised that the memory still doesn’t bother them several weeks later.

Sometimes, we didn’t get all of the disturbance cleared out from the memory. In EMDR, we figuratively “kick up dust,” and once the dust is settled we find that there’s some things we missed. This is another reason why it’s so important for us to re-check our work - we need to make sure we got everything out. We don’t want anything lingering.

re-evaluation with an unfinished emdr target

Sometimes, we didn’t finish a target in the last session. Re-Evaluation allows us to identify how much healing has occurred in between our sessions and also lets us know where to pick up and keep going.

What does re-evaluation look like? Basically, it’s a modified version of Phase 3. I ask you to bring up the memory, identify what image emerges (if any), what emotions you notice and if there’s any disturbance left. Most of the time people struggle to bring up an image, or it has changed to something new (and sometimes empowering). The emotion is often something like a sense of relief, neutrality or acceptance - and there’s typically minimal to zero negative charge connected to the memory. If we find that there’s a sense of anxiety or any other uncomfortable emotion with some disturbance left, then we know we missed something and we keep going!

emdr’s eight phases recap

Since EMDR’s Re-evaluation phase occurs throughout the entire EMDR treatment process, this phase lends well to a quick recap of all of EMDR’s phases!

Phase 1: History and Treatment Planning - This typically takes us two sessions. It involves reviewing your history, how it’s driving your symptoms now, and what we need to address in treatment.

Phase 2: Preparation - This phase can take one session, or multiple, and it completely depends on your situation. This phase focuses on explaining how EMDR works, educating you about trauma memory storage, and answering all questions you have so we can make sure you feel comfortable with the process. We also make sure you’ve got some positive coping skills at hand in case things get intense in session.

Phase 3: Assessment - Once we’ve chosen a target (i.e. that awful car accident), this phase re-activates the memory. This takes less than 5 minutes.

Phase 4: Desensitization - This is the phase most people think about when they talk about EMDR. This phase focuses on reprocessing the chosen target memory so that when you think about it, it doesn’t feel the same. In fact, when this phase is over, you’ll have minimal discomfort (if any) and a sense of acceptance or neutrality. Most people say at the end of this phase, “well it’s there, it happened, but I feel different now.” This phase can take between 1-7 sessions. Most of the time I find this takes 1-3 sessions on average.

Phase 5: Installation - In the installation phase, we decided on a positive belief that you wanted to have about yourself when you think about the target memory. It could be something like, “I did the best I could,” or “I’m as safe as I can be right now,” or “It’s over now.” This phase enhances those positive self-statements. You know how a lot of times you “know” something in your head, but you don’t actually feel it in your heart? Like you logically know it wasn’t your fault, but you don’t actually feel it? This phase gets you from knowing something logically to actually feeling it in your heart. This phase usually takes 10 - 20 minutes or so.

Phase 6: Body Scan - This phase addresses any lingering physical tension in your body that was caused by the trauma. For some people, this phase doesn’t take much time at all! We’re talking a couple minutes! Some people (like me), hold trauma in their body and so it can take a whole session. Most of the time it takes a few minutes to finish this phase.

Phase 7: Closure - This phase happens at the end of each session. We close everything down so you can meet the rest of your day. This usually takes 5-10 minutes.

Phase 8: Re-evaluation - This phase happens to “reopen” a memory we didn’t finish from last session, or to recheck a target we finished but want to make sure we got everything. This phase typically lasts a few minutes - sometimes more.

We made it through all of the phases! If you think EMDR might be helpful for you, click here to book a free 15 minute video consultation for online EMDR Therapy and PTSD treatment in California.

Online EMDR Therapy and Trauma Counseling in California and Carlsbad, CA