Notice That

The Pendulum Swing: Why Newly Trained Therapists Wait Too Long to Use EMDR | Early LearnerSixteen years ago, EMDR training culture said: go after it. First, worst, present, future, done. Today, a lot of newly trained therapists finish their consultation hours with every resource in place and still haven't run a first reprocessing session. The field swung. This episode is about the middle.One week out from training forty new clinicians, Jen and Bridger go back to their own first sessions. Jen, a year into her provisional license, in substance abuse treatment with a court-mandated caseload and an eight-session expectation. Bridger, a counseling intern seeing men in a residential recovery program for thirty minutes at a time, in a utility closet, on a bucket. One ran a teenager through a full three-prong plan. The other built a calm safe place out of a Coke bottle. Both would do some of it differently now. Both are glad they started.This episode is part of Early Learner, our series for clinicians in their first year after EMDR Basic Training.IN THIS EPISODE• Why we started the Early Learner series, and what newly trained therapists are asking now that they weren't sixteen years ago• Tool in the toolbox, or identity? The question underneath "I'm still integrating it"• Finding yourself inside a structure without letting it define you• Jen's first caseload: court-mandated, complex, and an eight-session expectation• Bridger's first session: thirty minutes, a utility closet, and a Coke bottle calm safe place• Your clients don't have to fit EMDR. Figure out how EMDR fits your client.• Why the hard clients teach you more, and the easier ones keep you going• Pacing as cost-benefit, not gas or brake• The pendulum swing in the field, from "first, worst, go" to never starting• Resourcing should start immediately. With everyone.• "Will you try something with me?"• Homework invitation for every early learnerTHIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY THERAPY GROWTH SYSTEMSWebsites and search optimization built for therapists, including the AI-driven search more and more clients are using to find a therapist. Submit your site for a free audit and a free preview of what they'd build for you: https://therapygrowthsystems.com/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NT_FirstTimeEMDR_Therapists_Fall_2026RESOURCES & LINKSThe first Early Learner episode: I'm an EMDR Therapist: Amanda Hearne on the First Year After Basic Training | Early LearnerEMDR Basic Training and follow-up consultation with Beyond Healing Institute: https://connectbeyondhealing.com/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NT_FirstTimeEMDR_Therapists_Fall_2026The Relational Thread, Bridger and Jen's book and essay series: https://connectbeyondhealing.com/the-relational-thread/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=relational_threadABOUT NOTICE THATNotice That is an EMDR podcast for therapists, counselors, and social workers, hosted by Bridger Falkenstien and Jen Savage, co-authors of EMDR and the Therapeutic Relationship: Reclaiming the Relational Thread. The show explores the real clinical practice of EMDR therapy: attachment, ego states, somatic processing, resourcing, complex trauma, and the relationship doing the work. Subscribe for conversations that treat both you and your clients as human.#EMDR #EMDRtherapist #EMDRbasictraining #NewTherapist #TraumaTherapy #Resourcing #NoticeThatPodcast #EarlyLearnerSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A therapist explores the hardest terrain of traumatic grief, where loss cannot be reframed or undone. A mother’s three-inch binder, offered as a representation of her dead son, exposes how clinical competence can quietly replace genuine presence. The essay follows the movement from interpretation to witnessing, and from therapeutic certainty back to accompaniment.

Treatment planning for complex trauma works differently than planning for single-incident trauma. Instead of tracing one symptom back to one memory, the clinician maps a network: the before, during, and after of many connected experiences, and the identity structure the client built to survive them. This episode is the full audio from a free Beyond Healing Institute workshop in which Dr. Bridger Falkenstien and Jen Savage walk through the five-step process they use with complex trauma and C-PTSD presentations.The five steps1. Identify the theme. A complex trauma theme is an identity structure, not a single negative cognition. It takes the form "I am ___ because ___, therefore I must ___," and it is built collaboratively in the client's own language.2. Map the network. Past experiences, missing experiences (what the client needed and never got), current symptoms reframed as strategies, relational patterns including the therapeutic relationship, and strengths.3. Sequence by distress. Theme-linked memories grouped into low (SUD 1 to 4), moderate (5 to 7), and high (8 to 10) bands, starting low to build tolerance and momentum. The "three doors."4. Pendulate. Move between distress-focused and resource-focused work within and across sessions. In complex trauma, the window of tolerance is narrow on both sides, so clients need capacity for connection and resource as much as for distress.5. Integrate. New responses with real people, a new felt sense outside the room, old expectations updated by new experience, and one small step in daily life each week. Integration starts in the first session.The framework draws on Somatic Integration and Processing (SIP), Beyond Healing's case conceptualization model, which looks at every case through three lenses: relationship (attachment and neurodevelopment), body (somatic psychology), and memory (adaptive information processing and memory reconsolidation).The caseAbout two-thirds of the way through, Bridger and Jen present Cora, a composite client in her late twenties: autistic, diagnosed late after years of masking, raised in a high-control religious environment, sexually abused by a family member between ages nine and twelve, and disbelieved by her mother when she disclosed. In session she describes a memory she has never spoken aloud in a flat, precise voice and rates it a 2 out of 10 while the therapist's own body registers a 9. The workshop uses her case to show how a theme gets built, what resources fit that specific theme, and four low-distress entry points that could open the network without going straight to the abuse memories.Also covered- Why comprehensive trauma timelines can work against complex trauma clients, and what to do instead- Reframing symptoms as strategies and asking what each strategy still protects- What to do when a new crisis or a second theme shows up mid-treatment- Reading the therapist's own activation in the room without overriding the client's reportWho this is forTherapists, counselors, and social workers working with complex trauma, C-PTSD, dissociation, and relational trauma, whether you use EMDR, TF-CBT, somatic approaches, or relational therapy. The planning process is modality-agnostic.Content note: this episode discusses childhood sexual abuse and dissociation in some clinical detail.This was recorded live on Zoom. You will hear references to slides, a Venn diagram, the chat, and a shared screen. The teaching holds without the visuals. For the slides, the recording, and the treatment planning worksheet walked through near the end: connectbeyondhealing.com/txp/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NT_ComplexTraumaPlanning_Therapists_Fall_2026Upcoming from Beyond Healing Institute- Free workshop: The Case Beneath the Case, November 4, 12:00 to 1:30 pm Central: calendar.connectbeyondhealing.com/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NT_ComplexTraumaPlanning_Therapists_Fall_2026- Somatic Integration and Processing training, November (last offering of 2026; 2027 dates posted on the course calendar): institute.connectbeyondhealing.com/somatic-integration-and-processing/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NT_ComplexTraumaPlanning_Therapists_Fall_2026Links- Beyond Healing Institute, EMDR training and SIP case conceptualization for therapists: https://connectbeyondhealing.com/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NT_ComplexTraumaPlanning_Therapists_Fall_2026- The Relational Thread, Bridger and Jen's book and weekly essay series: https://connectbeyondhealing.com/the-relational-thread/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=relational_thread- Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thinkbeyondhealingNotice That is hosted by Dr. Bridger Falkenstien and Jen Savage, co-owners of Beyond Healing in Springfield, Missouri, and produced by Think Beyond Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Recorded at the EMDRIA Conference 2026 in Anaheim, this conversation from the Notice That podcast's Notes from the Hall series features Ann Beckley-Forest, LCSW, RPT-S, on what has changed in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy with children since her book came out, why the next edition leans into the parents in the room, and the pre-verbal trauma work she is most excited about now. If the biggest payoff is in the caregiver relationship, how do you lead a session with more than one nervous system in it? Ann Beckley-Forest, LCSW, RPT-S, is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor based in Buffalo, New York, co-founder of Playful EMDR, and co-editor, with Annie Monaco, of EMDR with Children in the Play Therapy Room. Find her at annbeckleyforest.com. Ann is a returning guest, and she brings news she says she has not said publicly yet: Springer has asked for a second edition of the book. We talk about what the new edition will add (a chapter on neurodiversity, more population-specific chapters, updated research, and a chapter on targets related to racism, oppression, and diversity from two contributors she describes as very deep thinkers); why the heart of the new content is mobilizing caregivers and parents even when that is messy; what it takes to lead a session with multiple nervous systems in the room; the small European study of the EMDR storytelling method with children from birth to four that she found exciting enough to go get trained in an infant mental health play therapy model; the perinatal and early childhood summit she is planning with Mara Tesler Stein and Annie Monaco for September 2027 in Niagara-on-the-Lake; why she thinks community is the missing link for child therapists and what she tells anyone feeling anonymous at a 2,000-person conference; what Derek Farrell's keynote affirmed for "the kid people"; what it feels like to reread your own chapter six years on; and how she keeps the play in a high-pressure week (capes, mugs, a booth team, and a trip to Disneyland). Notes from the Hall is a 26-episode series from the Notice That podcast, recorded on the floor of the EMDRIA Conference 2026 in Anaheim — a window into the largest gathering of EMDR therapists in the United States, for everyone who was there and everyone who couldn't be. Hosted by Bridger Falkenstien and Jen Savage. Produced by Beyond Healing Media. Explore the full series at connectbeyondhealing.com. Ann's earlier conversation on Notice That: https://art19.com/shows/notice-that-an-emdr-podcast/episodes/7b8a5ee5-c7e1-47d4-897b-7f60e7ec89b9 Listen/watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/yXF0oeyVFfQSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I'm an EMDR Therapist: Amanda Hearne on the First Year After Basic Training | Early LearnerBasic training gives you the model. It can't give you the first year. That's the year where a lot of trained therapists quietly set EMDR down, and it's the year this conversation is about.Amanda Hearne got trained about five minutes after finishing her master's program and walked back into a domestic violence agency where nearly every client carried complex trauma. Eleven years later she's an EMDR Certified Therapist, an EMDRIA Approved Consultant-in-Training, and the voice behind @theemdrhealingpractice. Bridger and Jen sit down with her to talk about what held: a cohort that trained together, clients who could tolerate a therapist reading from a binder, and a decision about identity that changed everything downstream.This episode is part of our series for clinicians in their first year after EMDR Basic Training.IN THIS EPISODE- Getting trained straight out of grad school: the case for it, and the one honest con- Why empathy didn't feel like enough, and what a structured model gave a new therapist- The two things that buffered Amanda against never using EMDR: community and client trust- Walking in with the manual open, and letting clients know why- The twelve-to-twenty-session caseload, and why the full three-prong plan didn't fit- The recent event protocol, EMD, and why that is still EMDR- Capacity as the work, not the warm-up- The pressure to collect every advanced training right away, and why to hang tight- Consultation twice a month, and why CITs are a route worth knowing about- "Do you do EMDR?" "No, I'm an EMDR therapist."- The fear underneath "I'm still integrating it," and why no modality can satisfy it- Instagram, community after a move, and nurturing content for newly trained clinicians- Go with that, or notice that: the neon sign pollRESOURCES & LINKSAmanda Hearne — Live and Align Therapy: https://www.liveandaligntherapy.com/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=NT_HearneFirstYear_Therapists_Fall_2026Instagram: @theemdrhealingpracticeIndividual consultation and therapy (CA and TX): book through the Calendly on her siteMentioned in the episode:Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol (R-TEP), Elan Shapiro & Brurit LaubWhen There Are No Words, Sandra PaulsenMichelle Gottlieb, EMDR trainer and chronic pain specialist (Amanda's professor at Cal State Fullerton)Trauma Recovery/HAP (where Amanda's agency cohort trained)Lilly Risch — Burnout, Money, and Visibility with Lilly Risch | Notice That (the earlier episode on EMDR therapists and social media)The Relational Thread — Bridger & Jen's book and essay series: https://connectbeyondhealing.com/the-relational-thread/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=relational_threadABOUT NOTICE THATNotice That is an EMDR podcast for therapists, counselors, and social workers, hosted by Bridger Falkenstien and Jen Savage, co-authors of EMDR and the Therapeutic Relationship: Reclaiming the Relational Thread. The show explores the real clinical practice of EMDR therapy: attachment, ego states, somatic processing, resourcing, complex trauma, and the relationship doing the work. Subscribe for conversations that treat both you and your clients as human.#EMDR #EMDRtherapist #EMDRbasictraining #NewTherapist #TraumaTherapy #TherapistsOfInstagram #NoticeThatPodcast #EarlyLearnerSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A couple of weeks ago, I cried in a therapy session. Not the quiet, contained tear that can still be folded into a professional nod. I mean cried. My client was reading me something she had written, and it struck me in a way I didn't anticipate. And underneath the emotion was another reaction entirely: This is so unprofessional. Pull it together. What would a supervisor say if they saw this?Most of the time I no longer organize my work around those rules. And still, in that moment, the ghosts of professors, supervisors, consultants, and old versions of professionalism surfaced almost intact. They had been quiet for a long time. They were not gone.This week's essay is about what we were taught to hide. When ethics is taught primarily through prohibition, we may not be teaching therapists how to practice ethically. We may be teaching them how to follow rules, and then how to feel shame when they find themselves outside them. Restraint can be an act of care. But somewhere along the way, restraint became confused with disappearance. The therapist doesn't stop being human because the session begins, so the question was never whether our humanity enters the room. It already has. The question is what we do with it once it's here.Along the way: the questions I wish more clinicians were taught to ask in the moment; why the same disclosure can be deeply useful with one client and intrusive with another; why we can outgrow a rule intellectually long before our bodies stop bracing around it; and why "therapists are human too" can become its own excuse. Being genuine and being uncontained are not the same thing.Read the essay and subscribe (free, one essay a week):https://www.relationalthread.com/podcast?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=TRT_EssayNN_Therapists_Summer_2026The Relational Thread grows from the forthcoming book EMDR and the Therapeutic Relationship: Reclaiming the Relational Thread (2027) by Bridger Falkenstien & Jen Savage:https://connectbeyondhealing.com/the-relational-thread/?utm_source=nt&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=relational_threadNotice That is an EMDR podcast for therapists, counselors, and social workers, hosted by Bridger Falkenstien and Jen Savage.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's just the two of us this time. Bridger and Jen return to the model that sits underneath nearly everything we talk about on this podcast: Somatic Integration and Processing (SIP), Beyond Healing Institute's case conceptualization approach.Seven years and more than a thousand trained therapists in, we look at where SIP started, what has changed, and why it matters most at the stuck points in EMDR. We cover its three spheres (relationship, body, and memory) and the intersubjective space where they meet between therapist and client. Then we zoom in on one of the hardest stuck points: the SUD drops from a 9 to a 2, the client keeps answering your questions, and the activation is gone. We talk about why that moment usually doesn't call for another protocol or tool, and why the relationship itself can become the disconfirming experience.Stick around after we close for the full audio of the "What Is SIP?" case walkthrough, a composite case involving complex trauma, religious rigidity, and neurodivergence.In this episodeThe three spheres of SIP and why intersubjectivity matters so muchHow SIP has evolved as a living model over seven yearsWhy a falling SUD with vanishing activation may not be progressBefore, during, and after: seeing trauma, and in-session enactments, as patterns and not single momentsEarly attachment trauma and why the therapist can feel like the threatThe "what do I do?" question, and why it works best after you zoom outShared language for clients, colleagues, and ourselvesResourcesWatch the "What Is SIP?" video and download the free companion worksheet: connectbeyondhealing.com/sipSIP alumni can retake the training for freeUpcoming trainings and workshops (calendar.connectbeyondhealing.com)SIP: When the Target Won't Move, our first training for Australia and New Zealand (8:30 PM to 1:30 AM Central)Enactment Focused EMDR: Nov 11, 12:30 to 4:30 PM CentralAI in the Therapy Room: Dec 2, 9 AM to 1 PM CentralEMDR and the Therapeutic Relationship: Dec 9, 12:30 to 4:30 PM CentralEMDR and Grief: Jan 6, 12:30 to 4:30 PM CentralFree workshops and longer CE workshops ($95) can be filtered on the course calendar.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Dr. Sarah Schubert is a clinical psychologist, EMDR researcher, keynote speaker, and founder of EMDR Therapy Training Australia. She explores Indigenous perspectives challenging EMDR to listen rather than adapt, memory beyond the individual mind, nonlinear time, and resourcing as reconnecting with existing strengths. She also discusses authentic identity, nervous systems as clinical data, and collective healing for adolescents in care.

Lilly Risch is an EMDR therapist, group practice owner, consultant, and business coach. She explores burnout, leaving the helper identity behind, and building a practice that fits your life. The conversation tackles money stories, raising rates, ethical access to care, community-based visibility, and why authentic marketing can help people find trauma-informed support.

A breakthrough ends with a cancellation, raising a difficult question: what if therapy works too well? This exploration follows clients caught between an invalidating first mirror and a therapeutic second one, where new needs and perceptions feel real. It examines post-breakthrough struggles, resistance, silent relational contracts, grief, and three ways clinicians can support clients while life catches up.