Closing the Chapter: Why I’m Stepping Away from My EMDR Certification
I was introduced to EMDR in my late 20s by my psychotherapist in Madison, WI who I was seeing after suffering a few unexpected losses and I was struggling with pretty high anxiety. I remember one session in particular where it felt like nothing was happening for probably over 30 minutes and then it was like my brain short circuited, I saw a kaleidoscope of images, then I could not form words for a few minutes, and then the issue we were working on, felt resolved. It was the weirdest thing!
And so when I went back to grad school in my early 30s for psychotherapy and counseling, I knew I wanted to train in EMDR, and so I did. I have practiced EMDR for over 10 years with great outcomes for clients.
EMDR is a wonderful model. It transformed how I conceptualize human beings and symptoms, intervene, and work with clients. I will forever be grateful for what the EMDR world has taught me and for my clients who have benefitted from it. I have always said EMDR at its best really can feel like magic.
As we move into July, I have opted to no longer maintain my EMDRIA Certification. To keep up my Certified EMDR Credential through the EMDR International Association, it requires completing 12 EMDRIA credits every 2 years, maintaining a $180/year Membership fee, and paying a biannual $100 certification fee. The main reason why is because I have become immersed in the Brainspotting world!
Brainspotting has become my first line approach with clients. I find most people respond to it well. It’s less cumbersome and has less setup than EMDR. It is a resourced based model vs. in the EMDR model needing to work on resourcing before the client may be ready to process. Read this blog to learn more about the two models.
What does this mean for my current and future clients? Really, nothing is changing. I am just not jumping through the hoops that EMDRIA requires. I am still trained in EMDR and can utilize EMDR with clients. I still prefer it for well-resourced clients with single incident trauma or those who are highly controlled or perfectionistic that may struggle with the ambiguity of Brainspotting.
