EMDR Phase Five: Installation

You’ve made it through Phase 4 in EMDR and you feel so much relief that you are hesitant to believe that this whole EMDR thing is actually working.  Yup, heard it (a lot!).  People usually think that they’ll never be able to move forward, that they are permanently damaged and they’ll just have to learn to “tolerate” the past. . . until they find that they can move forward without feeling stuck anymore!

Here’s the thing:  we’re not done with this memory yet!  I know you feel amazing - and you want to rush to the next memory - but we need to do some final steps for THIS memory first.

don’t skip EMDR PHase five

I call Phase Five:  Installation, the “feel good” phase.  I know, you’re already feeling good.  But you’re going to feel even better.  Remember how in Phase 3 I asked you how you would like to feel about this memory now?  (As a for instance:  “I can handle it,” “I’m lovable,” or “I did the best I could.”)  Well we want to strengthen that positive belief.  While you might logically “know” in your head that you did the best you could, we want you to “feel” this in your heart.  

How exactly does EMDR installation work?

So here’s how we do this:  I ask you to bring up the memory we’ve been working on and notice the positive words we decided on (i.e. “I’m lovable”) and we begin more bilateral stimulation.  I check in periodically with you to see how you are progressing.  Usually, you begin recalling all of the reasons why “I’m lovable” is absolutely true!  Some people describe having positive physical sensations - like a sense of lightness.  Most people describe feeling strong, energetic, motivated and happy.

This phase usually only takes a few minutes, because after processing the earlier trauma, your brain isn’t “stuck” anymore on the negative belief you used to have. Sometimes I’ll stretch it out a little though, because no one has ever gotten mad at me for prolonging the feelings of being strong, powerful, brave and lovable!

On the rare occasion that someone feels stuck here, it’s usually because there are other traumas that we need to address first, and that’s ok - we’ll get there! At the very least, people typically feel much more optimistic than when we began the target - which is always a positive improvement.

After this phase, we move onto a body scan to ensure that any energy that’s trapped in your body from the trauma is processed.

If you are ready to experience this amazing EMDR phase, 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.