Dr. Amber Quaranta-Leech, LPC-S | CompassionWorks, LLC
Mental health is an exciting field. We work with approaches grounded in decades of research while continually learning about new developments, integrations, and emerging therapies. With so much innovation, it’s easy to become focused on what’s next and lose sight of the foundations that guide our work, like the AIP model and the 8 phases of EMDR.
As EMDR Therapy continues to evolve, I find it helpful to occasionally return to the basics.
At its core, EMDR Therapy is much more than eye movements or bilateral stimulation. The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model, developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro, invites us to view symptoms differently. Rather than seeing anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction, or other concerns as the problem itself, we view them as adaptations—responses that the nervous system learned in order to survive.
A simple but powerful question becomes: When did the nervous system learn that this response was necessary?
Through this lens, EMDR helps clients identify and reprocess experiences that remain maladaptively stored while strengthening more adaptive ways of understanding themselves and the world around them.
EMDR Therapy is a comprehensive psychotherapy approach built on all eight phases and the past-present-future framework.
The 8 phases of EMDR are:
The three prongs guide what we target: past experiences, present triggers, and future situations.
We begin by gathering history, understanding the client’s goals, and creating a roadmap for treatment. Preparation remains a critical phase, helping clients develop the internal and external resources needed for processing. As clinicians, we balance support and challenge, helping clients move toward difficult experiences while maintaining stability and safety.
And once a memory or trigger has been processed, we don’t stop there. The future template helps clients prepare for upcoming situations with greater confidence, flexibility, and resilience rather than responding solely from past learning and fear.
EMDR Therapy is not simply selecting memories and applying bilateral stimulation. Effective treatment requires thoughtful case conceptualization guided by the AIP model. Understanding how past experiences connect to present symptoms helps us identify meaningful treatment targets and maintain direction throughout the therapeutic process.
Protocols provide structure, but our conceptualization helps us understand where we are going and why.
Perhaps the most important reminder is that EMDR is ultimately a human experience.
It is more than protocols, scripts, or equipment. It is the therapeutic relationship. Through our presence, pacing, voice, curiosity, and genuine connection, we communicate to clients that they do not have to face difficult experiences alone.
Fidelity to the EMDR model and attunement are not competing values. The protocol provides structure; attunement provides safety.
As we continue learning new adaptations, protocols, and integrative approaches, let’s remain connected to the foundations of EMDR Therapy. We are not the agents of healing, and neither is the protocol itself. Our role is to create the conditions that allow adaptive information processing to occur while trusting in our clients’ innate capacity for healing and growth.
Sometimes the most valuable step forward is a return to the basics.
History Taking and Treatment Planning, Preparation, Assessment, Desensitization, Installation, Body Scan, Closure, and Reevaluation.
The Adaptive Information Processing model is the framework behind EMDR Therapy. It views symptoms as the result of experiences that remain maladaptively stored, and guides clinicians in choosing what to reprocess.
It means addressing past experiences, present triggers, and future situations. The future template is the tool used for the third prong.
CompassionWorks is an EMDRIA-approved training provider. Upcoming EMDR Basic Trainings:
See all trainings → https://compassionworks.com/courses/
Check eligibility → https://compassionworks.com/basic-emdr-training-eligibility-requirements/
Amanda Martin holds a PhD in Family Therapy and is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor, and EMDRIA Approved Consultant. With over 14 years of experience, she specializes in trauma therapy for individuals and families in residential and outpatient settings. Amanda also provides supervision for EMDR certification, EMDR consultants-in-training, and LMFT-Associates. Her mission is to help people find a healthy, joyful, and fulfilling path in life. Her warm, supportive, and interactive counseling style incorporates Symbolic Experiential Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, HeartMath, Animal-Assisted Therapy, Neurofeedback, and Collaborative Problem Solving.
Dr. Jose Carbajal, a U.S. Army veteran, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and a master’s in theological studies from Baylor University, and a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington. With over 15 years of clinical experience and extensive teaching experience, Jose specializes in trauma, sexual abuse recovery, domestic violence, and substance abuse. His research focuses on trauma interventions, neuroscience, and faith. He is EMDR Certified, an Approved Consultant, and an EMDRIA Approved Trainer, with numerous publications and professional presentations to his name.
Amber holds a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Regent University. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in both Texas and Oklahoma and holds Supervisor credential for Texas. Amber is an EMDRIA consultant and trainer. She has over a decade of experience in the trauma field in work with uniformed services, domestic violence, childhood trauma and abuse, and recent mass trauma events. Amber provides consultation for EMDRIA certification, for consultants-in-training, and supervision for LPC-Associates. Amber continues to research the benefits of EMDR therapy with a variety of populations. Her goal is to help build strong clinicians who are well versed in trauma interventions to better support their clients. Amber sees a limited number of clients with a focus on trauma work, she is also a Certified Career Counselor and Certified through EAGALA to provide equine-assisted therapy.Â
Amber holds a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from Regent University. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in both Texas and Oklahoma and holds Supervisor credential for Texas. Amber is an EMDRIA consultant and trainer. She has over a decade of experience in the trauma field in work with uniformed services, domestic violence, childhood trauma and abuse, and recent mass trauma events. Amber provides consultation for EMDRIA certification, for consultants-in-training, and supervision for LPC-Associates. Amber continues to research the benefits of EMDR therapy with a variety of populations. Her goal is to help build strong clinicians who are well versed in trauma interventions to better support their clients. Amber sees a limited number of clients with a focus on trauma work, she is also a Certified Career Counselor and Certified through EAGALA to provide equine-assisted therapy.Â
Dr. Jose Carbajal, a U.S. Army veteran, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and a master’s in theological studies from Baylor University, and a Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington. With over 15 years of clinical experience and extensive teaching experience, Jose specializes in trauma, sexual abuse recovery, domestic violence, and substance abuse. His research focuses on trauma interventions, neuroscience, and faith. He is EMDR Certified, an Approved Consultant, and an EMDRIA Approved Trainer, with numerous publications and professional presentations to his name.
Amanda Martin holds a PhD in Family Therapy and is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Supervisor, and EMDRIA Approved Consultant. With over 14 years of experience, she specializes in trauma therapy for individuals and families in residential and outpatient settings. Amanda also provides supervision for EMDR certification, EMDR consultants-in-training, and LMFT-Associates. Her mission is to help people find a healthy, joyful, and fulfilling path in life. Her warm, supportive, and interactive counseling style incorporates Symbolic Experiential Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, HeartMath, Animal-Assisted Therapy, Neurofeedback, and Collaborative Problem Solving.
