EMDR Therapy Protocols & Techniques 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The EMDR 'float-back' technique is used during which phase to identify earlier, linked memories?
- Phase 6 (Body Scan)
- Phase 3 (Assessment)
- Phase 1 (History Taking) (Correct answer)
- Phase 7 (Closure)
Correct answer: Phase 1 (History Taking)
The float-back (or affect scan) technique is used during Assessment or history-taking to trace a current belief or feeling back to its earliest origin.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the 'EMDR standard three-pronged approach'?
- Past memories, present triggers, and future templates (Correct answer)
- Negative cognitions, body sensations, and emotions
- Individual trauma, collective trauma, and developmental trauma
- Preparation, processing, and consolidation
Correct answer: Past memories, present triggers, and future templates
The three-pronged approach targets past disturbing memories, present-day triggers linked to those memories, and future anticipated situations.
Question 3: In EMDR, the Validity of Cognition (VoC) scale measures:
- How true the negative belief feels on a scale of 1–7
- How true the positive belief feels on a scale of 1–7 (Correct answer)
- The level of body tension on a scale of 0–10
- The client's confidence in the therapist on a scale of 1–5
Correct answer: How true the positive belief feels on a scale of 1–7
The VoC is a 1–7 scale measuring how true the Positive Cognition feels when paired with the target memory.
Question 4: The 'Recent Traumatic Event Protocol' (R-TEP) differs from the standard EMDR protocol primarily because it:
- Skips the Body Scan phase entirely
- Addresses trauma that occurred within the past three months and includes present-focused work (Correct answer)
- Requires no BLS and relies solely on cognitive restructuring
- Is designed only for children under 12
Correct answer: Addresses trauma that occurred within the past three months and includes present-focused work
R-TEP is adapted for recent trauma and incorporates special procedures to handle fragmented and still-evolving traumatic memory.
Question 5: When closing an incomplete EMDR session (one where SUD is not yet at 0), the therapist should:
- Ask the client to suppress any memories that arise between sessions
- Use a containment exercise and provide psychoeducation about what to expect between sessions (Correct answer)
- Immediately switch to a different therapeutic modality
- End the session without comment to avoid anchoring distress
Correct answer: Use a containment exercise and provide psychoeducation about what to expect between sessions
Proper closure of an incomplete session involves containment strategies and briefing the client that processing may continue between sessions.
Question 6: Which element is NOT part of the standard EMDR target assessment in Phase 3?
- The worst image of the event
- The negative and positive cognitions
- The therapist's case conceptualization notes (Correct answer)
- The emotion and SUD level
Correct answer: The therapist's case conceptualization notes
Phase 3 assessment focuses on client-reported elements: image, cognitions, emotions, SUD, and body location — not therapist notes.
Question 7: Shapiro's Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model proposes that psychopathology results from:
- A learned behavioral response reinforced by the environment
- Maladaptively stored memories that were not fully processed at the time of the event (Correct answer)
- Imbalances in neurotransmitter systems caused by genetic factors
- Unconscious conflicts between the id and superego
Correct answer: Maladaptively stored memories that were not fully processed at the time of the event
The AIP model holds that unprocessed memories retain their original disturbing sensory and emotional components, driving current symptoms.
EMDR Therapy Protocols & Techniques 3
The EMDR 'float-back' technique is used during which phase to identify earlier, linked memories?