In my previous blogs, I’ve described the first two phases of EMDR (there are eight phases in total). In this blog, I describe the third phase, the Assessment phase. This phase is designed to lay the groundwork for phase 4, the Desensitization phase, where the actual reprocessing of the traumatic memory begins.

Just like you might spend time intentionally stretching and warming up your muscles and ligaments before you begin a workout in order to prevent injury, phase 2 is about intentionally preparing yourself for the processing you will undergo in phases 3-8.

Phase 1 of EMDR is the guiding compass of EMDR, pointing you in the right direction on your journey with EMDR. It is essentially the process by which a client chooses the memory they are going to process with EMDR for the next several weeks.