Structured Yet Alive: EMDR as a Teachable and Improvisational Process

The Beauty Beyond the Protocol

“We teach it by the numbers, but you learn to use it by the beauty.”

EMDR is often taught as a protocol—a sequence of steps, memorized and practiced until they become second nature. This structure is vital. It creates safety, clarity, and confidence for both therapist and client.

But structure alone isn’t enough.

Meeting the Complexity of Real Life

Life, as we know, doesn’t follow a script. Clients arrive with layers of complexity: trauma histories, cultural nuances, nervous systems wired for protection. If we cling too tightly to the step-by-step format, we risk missing the uniqueness of the person in front of us.

From Technician to Improviser

EMDR starts out rigid—”painting-by-the-numbers”—but over time, it flows into a watercolor of delight. The shift from technician to improviser is one of the most important transitions a therapist can make. We begin with a standardized method. But we learn to use it with intuition, flexibility, and presence.

This doesn’t mean abandoning the protocol. It means understanding it so well that we know when and how to adapt it. Like a jazz musician who’s mastered scales and theory but can now improvise within structure, much like a modern dancer improvises with spontaneous movements created in the moment

Each of us eventually builds our own internal database—a collection of lived experiences that inform how EMDR works for us. What worked in training may not land in practice. And that’s okay. It’s expected.

Therapy as a Living Process

The question becomes: Am I getting the results I’m expecting? What’s working here? What’s not? Therapy becomes a process of noticing, adjusting, and learning alongside the client.

The protocol remains. But in the Now it breathes. 

Keep Exploring

• View upcoming EMDR trainings at CompassionWorks
• How Improvisation Changes the Brain – Psychology Today
  A light and engaging look at how improvisation helps people stay present, manage uncertainty, and build emotional flexibility—key skills in therapeutic work.

 

~ Jordan Shafer/nmm