EMDR certification — how many supervised client hours did your consultant require before signing off?
I'm a licensed therapist working toward EMDR certification through EMDRIA and I'm trying to plan my timeline realistically. I finished my basic training last fall — 20 hours across two weekends — and I've been seeing clients since January. The requirements list 50 client sessions and at least 10 consultation hours, but it feels like some consultants expect more than the minimum before they'll sign the attestation.
The consultation piece is what's confusing me. I'm paying $150 per hour for individual sessions and $60 per person for group. I've been doing mostly group to keep costs down, but my consultant has hinted she'd like to see more individual work before she's comfortable signing off. I'm at about 6 individual hours and 8 group hours right now.
Has anyone had their consultant push back on the minimum or ask for significantly more than 10 total hours? I have $2,800 already invested and I'm trying to budget what's left. I figure 4-6 more individual hours should get me there but I'm not sure.
The $150 per hour individual rate is pretty standard. I'd aim for at least 8-10 individual hours if you can swing it. Group consultation is good for breadth but individual is where you get targeted feedback on your protocol fidelity.
Some consultants are stricter than others. Mine required 12 hours minimum even though EMDRIA says 10. Just ask yours directly what her threshold is rather than guessing — most are upfront when you ask plainly.
My consultant signed off right at 10 hours but I had 60+ client sessions completed by that point. The session volume matters a lot — more cases means more diverse presentation experience and that shows in how you discuss cases during consultation.
I finished certification last year and my total costs came out to about $3,400 including training, all consultation, and the EMDRIA application fee. Budget for that range and you'll be close to reality.