EMDR Session Note Template | Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing

The EMDR Session Note: Documenting Bilateral Healing

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is one of the most extensively researched and effective treatments for PTSD and complex trauma. What makes EMDR distinctive is its mechanism: while holding a traumatic memory in mind, the client engages in bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements, but also tapping or sound), and the trauma memory becomes less emotionally charged and better integrated. The client's brain can process what talk therapy alone couldn't unlock.

The EMDR session note is unique because it must capture the protocol stages, the specific target memories worked on, the client's processing during desensitization, and the resolution of that memory. Unlike therapy notes that document dialogue, the EMDR note tracks the movement of a traumatic memory through its desensitization and integration — from "stuck and overwhelming" to "processed and integrated."

What is an EMDR session note?

An EMDR session note is a clinical progress note structured around the eight phases of EMDR: history and treatment planning, preparation, assessment, desensitization, installation, body scan, closure, and reevaluation. The note documents which phases were addressed, which target memory was processed, what bilateral stimulation was used, how the client's distress level changed during processing, and what adaptive resolution emerged.

The note tracks both the technical elements (sets, eye movements, target) and the clinical elements (processing, resolution, integration).

What goes in the template

A standard EMDR session note includes:

EMDR Phase(s) Addressed: Which of the eight phases occurred in this session? Most processing sessions include assessment, desensitization, installation, and body scan. Are you in history-gathering, preparation, processing, or reevaluation?

Target Memory Selected: What specific traumatic memory or image became the focus? Be precise: "Moment when the car hit," not just "car accident." Include the image, the sensations, the thoughts associated with it.

Negative Cognition (NC): What is the client's core negative belief about the memory? "I'm powerless," "I can't protect myself," "I'm damaged," "It's my fault"? This is the belief that needs resolution.

Positive Cognition (PC): What belief would be healing and adaptive? "I did the best I could," "I'm safe now," "I survived," "I have choice"? This is the target resolution.

Subjective Units of Distress (SUD): Rate the client's distress when bringing up the target memory. Scale 0–10, where 0 = no distress, 10 = highest distress possible. This provides a baseline to track change.

Validity of Cognition (VOC): Rate how true the positive cognition feels when they bring up the memory. Scale 1–7, where 1 = completely false, 7 = completely true. This tracks whether reprocessing has shifted their belief.

Bilateral Stimulation Method: What was used? Horizontal eye movements (therapist's fingers moving side-to-side), vertical or diagonal movements, tapping (alternating knees or hands), or auditory (bilateral tones). Include the pace and number of sets.

Processing & Observations: What happened during desensitization? Describe the client's experience during each set of bilateral stimulation. Did images shift? Did new memories surface? Did emotions change (from fear to anger to sadness)? Did the image "fade" or become less charged? Did new associations emerge? Did the client report feeling stuck at any point?

SUD After Processing: Re-rate the client's distress after each set or at the end of processing. Typically, SUD decreases as the memory is processed. If SUD plateaus, you may need to address blocks or work with related memories.

Installation of PC: Once processing progressed, did the positive cognition feel more true? Did the client's physiology settle? Did you do additional sets to strengthen the adaptive belief?

Body Scan: Did the client report any remaining somatic charge when they held the memory? Where in their body did they feel anything? Did bilateral stimulation help discharge any remaining tension?

Closure & Safety: How did the client leave the session? Were they grounded and regulated? Did you complete the session with a sense of resolution, or is this memory still being processed in the next session?

Progress & Integration: How does this processing move the treatment forward? Has this memory been desensitized? Are there related memories to address next?

Homework & Between-Session: Did you assign homework? Journaling about the processed memory, continuing to notice if the memory feels different, or preparing for the next target?

When to use an EMDR session note

• PTSD: Single-incident or multiple-incident trauma; EMDR is efficacious for combat, accident, assault, and loss
• Complex PTSD: Multiple traumatic memories requiring systematic processing
• Childhood trauma: Abuse, neglect, or other adverse experiences; EMDR works well with attachment wounds
• Grief & loss: Traumatic death, sudden loss, or unresolved grief; EMDR can desensitize the traumatic images
• Performance anxiety: EMDR can reprocess past failures or embarrassment that fuel current anxiety
• Phobias: Traumatic memories underlying phobic responses; EMDR desensitizes the core fear memory
• Shame & self-blame: Traumatic memories where the client blames themselves; EMDR can shift the internalized belief
• Intergenerational trauma: EMDR can process trauma that was transmitted through family narratives

How to use the EMDR session note with Scriber

During session: You follow the EMDR protocol, establishing a target memory, identifying the negative and positive cognitions, assessing the SUD, and then engaging the client in bilateral stimulation while they hold the memory in mind. You periodically pause to check in: "What are you noticing?" "How much does that bother you now?" You continue processing until the memory is desensitized and the positive cognition feels true. The session is recorded.

After session: When you transcribe with Scriber, the EMDR protocol work is captured — the target memory, the desensitization process, the client's experience during bilateral stimulation, the shifts that occurred. Scriber's clinical AI can extract:

• The specific traumatic memory targeted
• The negative and positive cognitions
• Initial and final SUD ratings
• The bilateral stimulation method used
• Observations about the client's processing
• Evidence of memory desensitization and integration
• Resolution of the target memory (VOC improvement)
• Plan for next target or continued processing

Your progress note auto-generates documenting the EMDR work, the processing that occurred, and progress through trauma resolution. The record is systematic and protocol-based.

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Download the EMDR Session Note template — PDF and DOCX formats available. Use to track target memories, SUD/VOC ratings, and processing progress through each EMDR session.

Start a 7-day trial — Record your EMDR session, Scriber transcribes the processing dialogue and client reflections, and auto-generates a progress note documenting the target memory, desensitization process, and integration.