EMDR SESSION NOTE

Client: [Name or ID]
Date of session: [Date]
Session: [Number in this course of EMDR; start and end time]
Format: [In person or video; for video, the client's location, privacy, and emergency contact]
Clinician: [Name, credentials]
Diagnosis and plan goal: [Working diagnosis, and the treatment plan goal this target serves]

PHASE AND PROTOCOL
Phases today: [Name each one: 1 history taking, 2 preparation, 3 assessment, 4 desensitization, 5 installation, 6 body scan, 7 closure, 8 reevaluation]
Protocol: [Standard eight-phase protocol, or the adapted protocol used]
Prong: [Past memory, present trigger, or future template]

READINESS AND REEVALUATION
Last target: [SUD and VOC on the last target now, and any new material, or none]
Log since last session: [Triggers, images, thoughts, feelings, sensations, and ratings the client recorded]
Stability: [Sleep, substance use, dissociation, new stressors, medication changes]
Resources: [Calm place, container, or other resources checked; stop signal agreed]
Measures: [PCL-5 or another scale: today's score and the baseline]
Ready to process: [Yes, or no and the reason]

TARGET AND ASSESSMENT
Target: [The memory in a few words, and why it was chosen]
Image: [The picture that stands for the worst part]
Negative cognition: [The client's negative belief about themselves now, in their words]
Positive cognition: [The belief the client would rather hold]
VOC at start: [How true the positive cognition feels now, 1 to 7]
Emotions: [What the client feels now, thinking of the memory]
SUD at start: [How disturbing it feels now, 0 to 10]
Body location: [Where the client feels it]

DESENSITIZATION
Bilateral stimulation: [Eye movements, taps, tones, or butterfly hug; how given; speed]
Sets: [Number of sets, and the length of most]
What changed: [The main shifts: images, thoughts, feelings, sensations, other memories]
Interventions: [Cognitive interweaves, grounding, or changes to the stimulation, and what followed]
SUD checks: [The SUD at each return to target]
SUD at end: [Final SUD; if above 0, the client's reason and your judgment]

INSTALLATION AND BODY SCAN
Positive cognition: [Still fits, or the better one the client chose]
VOC: [Before and after installation, and sets used; if below 7, the client's reason and your judgment]
Body scan: [Clear, or what was found and whether it cleared]
Session status: [Complete, or incomplete and why]

CLOSURE
Closing steps: [Container, calm place, grounding, or breathing]
State at end: [Distress in the room, 0 to 10; orientation; safe to leave or drive]
Safety check: [Suicidal thoughts, self-harm, harm to others, urges to use: what you asked and the answers]
Briefing: [What the client was told to expect between sessions, and what to do]

PLAN
Between sessions: [Log to keep, resources to use, and who to contact if distress rises]
Next session focus: [Reevaluate this target, then continue it, or the next target, present trigger, or future template]
Coordination: [Contact with a prescriber or physician, with consent, or none]
Next session: [Date, time, length, and format]

Signed: [Clinician name, credentials, date and time]