EMDR Phase One: History And Treatment Planning
You always knew this day would come - you’ve put it off for awhile now. But you’ve decided it’s finally time to put the past in the past: where it belongs. You might have realized how your past trauma is impacting your relationships. Or maybe you see how it’s holding you back from reaching your dreams.
Either way, you probably want to know what you’re getting yourself into before you commit yourself to treatment. There are a handful of treatment modalities that are ideal for treating trauma - and EMDR has emerged as one of the most helpful.
My clients often tell me that the situations that used to trigger their anxiety or bring up their past don’t actually bother them anymore. They find themselves noticing that they aren’t reacting the way they normally would in a particular situation - and this is freeing for them. You can get there too!
EMDR Therapy Occurs In Eight Phases
Most people don’t know that EMDR actually has eight phases of treatment:
History and Treatment Planning
Preparation
Assessment
Desensitization
Installation
Body Scan
Closure
Reevaluation
EMDR History and Treatment Planning
Today, I want to review with you phase one: History and Treatment Planning.
This phase involves an in depth discussion about what brings you to treatment. Most people come in for their first session and just need a place to “dump” everything - and I’m here for it! These venting sessions are quite helpful as the problems that are bothering my clients the most come up organically.
So during your first session with me, I’ll be doing a lot of listening and a lot of writing! I’m completing the “History Taking” and “Treatment Planning” simultaneously. Once you’ve gotten everything off your chest, I’ll take over for a bit and assess for specific symptoms to make sure we didn’t miss anything.
Overall, I want to know what’s bothering you the most now and why you decided to get help. I also want to know about your childhood, what it was like growing up in your home and your relationship with your family (then and now). I also want to know what your goals for treatment are so I can help you get there! This usually takes about two sessions - at which point we create a treatment plan together.
EMDR Treatment Planning
In EMDR, it’s typically best to address the past traumas in your life that are driving your current symptoms. I’ll typically create a treatment plan that has three sections:
Past Events: These are the events that get triggered by present day situations. A simple example would be a car accident - if you’ve been in an accident and feel a lot of anxiety about driving a car again, then we’ll want to tackle the actual car accident first.
Present Triggers: Using the car accident as an example, we’ll target the recent times you’ve been anxious driving your car - or other symptoms that are being caused by the accident (nightmares, reactions when other people are driving, etc).
Future Templates: During this part of treatment, our goal is to prepare you to be able to drive your car again - with minimal to no symptoms.
Many clients say that they begin feeling relief once we start working on the past events, but it’s important to continue on through present triggers and future templates so you can enjoy the most benefit from EMDR therapy.
Now that you understand Phase 1 - you’re ready to learn about Phase 2!
If you would like some help addressing your past, click here to book a free 15 minute video consultation for online EMDR Therapy and PTSD treatment in North County San Diego.
Online EMDR Therapy and Trauma Counseling in California and Carlsbad, CA.
