Mastering Interweaves in EMDR: Knowing When and How to Assist the Adaptive Process
EMDR therapists are initially taught to “stay out of the way”—but what happens when processing stalls, looping occurs, or clients struggle to access adaptive information? This short, focused training offers clarity and clinical confidence around the appropriate and skillful use of interweaves during EMDR therapy.
Participants will learn how to recognize common blocks in processing, when to intervene, and how to use interweaves without overriding the client’s natural healing trajectory. Drawing on both cognitive and somatic interweave models, this course teaches specific strategies to respectfully engage the client’s nervous system and memory network without disrupting their internal process.
Through practical examples, scripting support, and case-based discussion, clinicians will leave with actionable tools to enhance therapeutic effectiveness while honoring the integrity of the Standard Protocol.
Educational Objectives
- Identify at least three clinical indicators that suggest the need for an interweave during EMDR processing.
- Develop and apply client-specific interweaves based on the nature of the block or stuck point.
Syllabus
- Interventions that facilitate adaptive processing when a client becomes stuck
- Provide necessary information, perspective shifts, or cognitive restructuring
- Should be minimal, strategic, and client-centered
- Cognitive
- Help clients move forward when looping, dissociating, or struggling to access adaptive information
- Provide cognitive reframing, accessing strengths, perspective shifting
- Emotional
- Help bring forward emotional responses, increase emotional engagement or balance overwhelming emotions
- Used when clients are emotionally detached/numb, stuck in an intellectual response, or are overwhelmed by distressing emotions
- Enhance emotional connection, encourage self-compassion, facilitate empowerment
- Somatic
- Help integrate physical awareness into reprocessing work
- Used when client is disconnected from bodily sensations or experiencing dissociation
- Encourage release of physical tension and provide grounding
- Float back interweaves – identify earlier, foundational memories related to current distress
- Hypnotic interweaves – instill positive thoughts, feelings, and sensations
- Two-handed interweaves – holding two perspectives and integrating them