Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth going back to the basics on EMDR — what it actually is, how it works, five common myths busted, who it's for, and what to expect in your first sessions. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

"The bilateral stimulation is the vehicle. It is not the destination. The real work is what the brain does with it."

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth wrapping up the eight-phase EMDR series with Phase 8 — Reevaluation. They talk about: what the therapist checks in reevaluation, why it's almost abnormal for nothing to come up between sessions, the truth behind "EMDR makes things worse," and what neurodivergent clients need to know about this phase. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

"It's almost abnormal for somebody to come in after working through targets and say nothing came up. Usually it's this middle ground — a couple of things came up and we're able to manage that. That's why this reevaluation phase is so important."

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra flying solo, as she talks about: EMDR Phase 7 Closure, what stable and grounded mean, why preparation and closure are more connected than most people realize, the difference between complete and incomplete sessions, and what clients should expect to feel when they walk out the door. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

"You should expect to leave feeling tired. You should expect to leave with a lot on your mind. To leave feeling out of control is not the goal. If that's happening, you need more closure time."

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth, as they talk about: EMDR Phase 6 Body Scan, why cognitive resolution isn't the same as complete processing, how trauma is held in the body, and what a clear body scan looks and feels like in session. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

"The client can tell me cognitively they're no longer distressed. They can tell me they're okay replacing this negative belief with a positive one. And then we do the body scan — and look at all the stuff showing up in the body."

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth, as they talk about: EMDR Phase 5 Installation, the Validity of Cognition scale, what full evoking means, how the research on bilateral stimulation has shifted, and why chronic trauma clients need vastly more support in this phase than the basic protocol alone provides. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

"For someone with acute trauma, positive cognitions are like full-grown adults — capable, ready to sprint toward the void of this memory. For someone with chronic trauma, those cognitions might be more like five-year-olds. They're there. But they're not as capable, not as fast, and there aren't as many of them."

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth, as they talk about: EMDR Phase 4 Desensitization, dual awareness, the flash forward technique, cognitive interweaves, and the therapist's real role during active processing. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

"The therapist's job is really to get out of the way as much as possible. The brain does most of the work when you just let it roll."

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth, as they talk about: EMDR Phase 3 Assessment, selecting specific targets, the Polaroid method, negative and positive cognitions, body sensations, and the most common assessment mistakes. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

"Poor assessment is gonna result in wandering, ineffective sessions. You've got to put in the work here. And do it really, really well. Phase one, two, and three — they all go together beautifully. This is the final piece of really being ready to do some work."

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth, as they talk about EMDR Phase 2: the preparation phase, why resourcing is essential before trauma processing, and how skipping this step can lead to overwhelm and dropout in therapy. They break down what actually happens in this phase, what clients should expect, and why pacing matters so much in EMDR. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

“If you skip preparation, people get overwhelmed, and when people get overwhelmed, they stop coming.”

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth, as they talk about EMDR Phase 1: history taking and treatment planning, why EMDR is a circular process rather than a linear one, and how trauma therapy should be paced in a way that feels safe and effective. They break down what happens in the first phase of EMDR, how therapists gather history without overwhelming clients, and why healing does not require telling your whole story in one sitting. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

“The expectation when you first sit down and meet with someone should not be, I am going to get this person's entire trauma history and develop a completely thorough treatment plan the first time that I meet them, or even the second or third time.”

Hello friends! This episode features Cassandra and Garth, as they talk about the 8 phases of EMDR therapy, what each phase actually looks like in real sessions, and why EMDR is not a linear process but a flexible, circular one. They walk through each phase at a high level and set the foundation for a deeper series breaking down how EMDR works in practice. You can learn more about Cassandra and her practice at: seentherapy.org. Get a taste for the episode below. If you enjoy your listen give us a follow, share, or five star review. Have a good one!

“EMDR phases are not linear. They’re circular. You cannot think of them as a completely linear process.”