How Do You Know When A Client Is Ready For EMDR?

How do you know when a client is “ready enough” for EMDR without over-preparing and losing momentum? We unpack a practical, compassionate framework for readiness that balances safety, capacity, and timing—especially with complex trauma, dissociation, and real-life stress tugging at the edges of therapy.

We start with the window of tolerance and what presence actually looks like in the room: not perfect calm, but the ability to notice emotions, track body sensations, and return from dissociation with support. From there, we look beyond the session. Do coping tools hold up between appointments? Are grounding, containment, and bilateral strategies helping clients recover after difficult moments? We explain how Resource Development and Installation can separate social ties from true emotional anchors, helping clients identify people, symbols, and practices that reliably support reprocessing.

For clients with attachment wounds and dissociation, readiness is measured in collaborative behaviors: naming needs, asking to slow down, and trusting that their therapist will respond contingently. We outline red flags that call for more preparation—active suicidal ideation without a plan, active substance use, frequent uncontrolled dissociation, volatile homes, major life transitions, or unstable medications—and show how to keep momentum by deepening Phase 1 and 2 instead of forcing Phase 4. Throughout, we emphasize ongoing informed consent and goal check-ins so clients feel empowered, not blocked. The heart of our message: EMDR is an eight-phase journey, and progress begins on day one with resourcing, education, and connection.

If this conversation helps you refine your own readiness checklist, share it with a colleague, subscribe for future episodes, and leave a quick review telling us your top green or red flag for EMDR readiness.

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EMDR WITH DANI AND ALLY
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