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.
I actually failed my first attempt so I can speak to this. My consultant signed off after my 50 sessions but I rushed into it and wasn't ready. The consultation calls were technically done but I hadn't really internalized the protocol — I was just going through the motions. Second time around I slowed down, asked my consultant to do a few extra calls beyond the minimum, and we specifically worked through cases where I'd fumbled the resourcing phase. That made a huge difference.
The thing nobody tells you is that the 10 consultation hours can feel like a checkbox if you're not intentional about them. Don't just report what happened in sessions — bring your stuck cases, the messy ones where you weren't sure what to do next. My consultant didn't require more than the standard 10 the second time, but the quality of those hours was completely different. If you're already seeing clients since January you're probably in good shape, just make sure you're actually using the consultation time and not just logging it.
Honestly I almost quit around the 30-session mark. My consultant kept flagging things I hadn't caught and I started wondering if I'd ever be "ready" in her eyes. It wasn't imposter syndrome exactly, more like I genuinely questioned whether I was improving at all between sessions. What turned it around was when she told me she wasn't looking for perfection, she was looking for self-awareness and growth. Once I heard that I stopped trying to perform and just focused on the actual work.
I ended up needing 12 consultation hours before she signed off, a couple more than the minimum. Didn't feel arbitrary once I understood what she was actually tracking though. If you're feeling stuck right now, don't read that as a sign you're failing. Some consultants are just thorough and it's worth it once you get to the other side.