FREE CEs for listening to this episode
She has no single “worst day” - just a hundred small ones, stacked. This is what race-based traumatic stress looks like in the therapy room, and how to attune EMDR to treat it. A full worked case, phase by phase. Free CE if eligible.
Some clients don’t have one big trauma to target. They have a thousand small ones: the meeting where her idea was ignored then praised on someone else’s lips, the hair touched without asking, the badge checked at a door no one else got stopped at - stacked over years, in a context that isn’t over when they leave the room. That’s race-based traumatic stress, and the standard “find the worst event” frame can miss it entirely.
In this episode of Target Memory, Host and Certified EMDR Therapist M.R. Estante, follows one composite client, “Dana,” through the 8 phases of the EMDR Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) to illustrate culturally attuned trauma treatment in action - not in the abstract. Strategies such as attuned history-taking and target sequencing, what to do when “safe place” doesn’t exist for a client, how to build relational and ancestral resources, and how to choose a positive cognition that’s both adaptive and accurate for the client. Respectful of the protocol, fidelity to the treatment model, grounded in the peer-reviewed literature (Carter; Shapiro’s AIP model; Nickerson; the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research), and aligned with APA multicultural standards.
What may have been charted as “treatment-resistant” when the real issue was a protocol that hadn’t been attuned to the person in front of you - this episode explores.
For EMDR-trained clinicians, trauma therapists, and anyone working with complex, cumulative, and racialized trauma.
🎧 Join the Learn at Pinnacle app to earn FREE CE Credit for listening to this episode! (learnatpinnacle.com/education)
This episode is for Education only - not therapy, supervision, or consultation. “Dana” is a fictional composite for teaching.
FULL SHOW NOTES
Racial Trauma in the Therapy Room: How to Attune EMDR (A Worked Case)
Some clients don’t have one big trauma to target: they have a hundred small ones, stacked over years, in a context that isn’t over when they leave the room. In this episode, M.R. Estante (Rheba) follows one composite client, “Dana,” through the EMDR phases to show culturally attuned trauma treatment in action: recognizing race-based traumatic stress, attuned history-taking through the AIP lens, resourcing when “safe place” isn’t simple, and choosing positive cognitions that are both adaptive and true. Grounded in the peer-reviewed literature; respectful of the protocol; aligned with APA multicultural standards.
🎧 Join the Learn at Pinnacle app to earn FREE CE Credit for listening to this episode!
References / further reading:
— Carter, R. T. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13–105.
— Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
— Nickerson, M. (Ed.). (2017). Cultural Competence and Healing Culturally Based Trauma with EMDR Therapy. Springer Publishing.
— Cultural Adaptations of the Standard EMDR Protocol in Five African Countries. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research.
— Lewis, B., et al. (2025). Cultural adaptations to the assessment and treatment of trauma experiences among racial and ethnic minority groups: A mixed-methods systematic review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
— American Psychological Association. (2017). Multicultural Guidelines: An Ecological Approach to Context, Identity, and Intersectionality.
— Menakem, R. (2017). My Grandmother’s Hands. Central Recovery Press.
This podcast is for education only and is not therapy, clinical supervision, or consultation. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or 988.
