Rainbow Counselling

31/08/2026

EMDR: Phase 8 – Reevaluation ✨
Phase 8 is an important part of EMDR and takes place at the beginning of the next session.
We look back at what has happened since the previous session — checking how you’ve been feeling, whether the memory has changed, and whether anything new has come up.
We also check:
🧠 What feelings or body sensations are still present
💭 Whether the negative belief has changed
🌱 Whether you feel more able to cope in everyday life
EMDR isn’t simply about processing a difficult memory and moving on. Each session builds on the last, making sure the work is progressing safely and effectively.
Sometimes, what happens between sessions gives us valuable information about what your mind and nervous system still need.
🌈 Healing isn’t about forgetting what happened. It’s about changing the way it affects you now.

26/08/2026

Family and friends are desperately exploring other treatment options to give Bethany more precious time with her daughter 🩷

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21/08/2026

The 8 Phases of EMDR – Phase 7: Closure 🌈
What happens at the end of an EMDR session?
We’ve reached Phase 7 – Closure, an important part of EMDR that helps you leave the session feeling safe, grounded and supported.
EMDR can sometimes bring up strong emotions, memories, thoughts or physical sensations. You might not have completely finished processing a memory by the end of the session – and that’s okay.
Closure is about helping your nervous system settle before you leave.
Your therapist will help you:
🌿 Come back into the present moment
🌿 Notice what is happening in your body
🌿 Use calming and grounding techniques
🌿 Make sure you feel sufficiently settled before ending the session
🌿 Understand that processing can sometimes continue naturally between sessions
If the memory has not been fully processed, you won't be expected to force it to a conclusion. Instead, we acknowledge where the processing has reached and make a plan for the next session.
You may also be encouraged to notice what comes up during the days afterwards – perhaps dreams, memories, emotions or new insights. These can sometimes be part of the brain continuing to process what has been worked on.
The most important thing about Phase 7 is that you don't simply leave the session with difficult material wide open.
Closure provides a safe bridge between the therapy room and the rest of your day. 💜
In the next post, I'll explain Phase 8 – Reevaluation, where we return to the memory at the beginning of the next session and see what has changed.
🌈 Rainbow Counselling North Wales
Helping you move towards a brighter future.

07/08/2026

EMDR – Phase 6: The Body Scan
By Phase 6, we have worked on reducing the distress connected to the memory and have strengthened the positive cognition, the more helpful belief you would like to hold about yourself.

Once that positive belief feels true and has been strengthened using bilateral stimulation, we then move on to the body scan.
I will invite you to gently scan through your body, from head to toe, while holding the memory and your positive belief in mind. We are simply noticing whether there is any tension, discomfort or other physical sensation still present.

Sometimes people notice tightness, heaviness, butterflies, tingling or another sensation, and sometimes there is nothing there at all. There is no right or wrong response.
If something does remain, we can use further bilateral stimulation to help process what is still being held.

The aim is for the memory, the positive belief and the body’s response to feel aligned so that the experience is no longer creating distress, either emotionally or physically.

This is an important part of EMDR because it recognises that our experiences can affect not only how we think and feel, but also how our body responds.

Phase 6 is about checking that the body has caught up with the healing that has taken place.

25/07/2026

The 8 phases of EMDR, Phase 5: Installation – Strengthening Positive Beliefs

Once the distress linked to a memory has reduced, we move into Phase 5, known as Installation.

This stage is about strengthening the positive belief you would like to hold about yourself. Together, we revisit the memory while focusing on a healthier belief, such as ‘I'm safe,’ ‘I'm good enough,’ ‘I'm in control,’ or ‘It wasn't my fault.’ As we use bilateral stimulation, the aim is to help that positive belief feel more genuine and deeply rooted, rather than just something you tell yourself.

The memory doesn't disappear, but it often loses its emotional grip. Instead of being defined by what happened, you can begin to experience the memory from a place of greater confidence, self-compassion and resilience.
Healing isn't about erasing the past, it's about changing how it lives within you.

🌈 Sarah Blay MBACP (Accred), EMDRUK
Rainbow Counselling North Wales
EMDR Therapy for Trauma, Anxiety and Emotional Healing

19/07/2026

Phase 4 of the 8 Phases of EMDR: Desensitisation
Many people imagine that EMDR involves talking endlessly about what happened. In reality, this phase is often very different.
During desensitisation, we begin to process the memories that have become ‘stuck’ in the nervous system. Using bilateral stimulation (such as eye movements, tapping or alternating sounds), your brain is supported to do what it couldn't do at the time of the trauma.
Rather than forcing yourself to think positively or relive every detail, you simply notice whatever comes up, thoughts, emotions, memories, body sensations or even nothing at all. There is no right or wrong experience.
As processing continues, distress usually begins to reduce naturally. Many people notice that the memory starts to feel more distant, less vivid or no longer carries the same emotional intensity. The event hasn't changed, but the way it is stored in the brain has.
This phase is never rushed. Your therapist follows your brain's natural processing, checking in regularly and ensuring you remain within your window of tolerance.
Healing isn't about forgetting what happened, it's about no longer feeling as though it's happening now.

‘Have you ever noticed how a memory can lose its emotional charge over time? EMDR helps the brain do that more effectively when trauma has interrupted the process.’

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12/07/2026

The Eight Phases of EMDR – Phase 3 Explained
Phase 3: Assessment
Now that we've explored your history and you've learned ways to stay grounded and regulated, it's time to gently focus on a specific memory that you'd like to process.
During this phase, we'll identify:
• The particular memory we'll work on.
• The negative belief you've come to hold about yourself because of that experience (for example, "I'm not good enough" or "I'm not safe").
• The positive belief you'd rather believe instead (such as "I am enough" or "I am safe now").
• The emotions and physical sensations that arise when you think about the memory.
We'll also measure how distressing the memory feels right now and how true the positive belief feels. These simple ratings help us track your progress throughout therapy.
Phase 3 isn't about reliving trauma or analysing every detail. It's about creating a clear starting point so your brain knows exactly what it needs to process during the next phase of EMDR.
Every step is taken at your pace, and you remain in control throughout.

10/07/2026

Post 2: Resourcing…the next step
This week is about building your internal toolkit — the calming, grounding techniques you can draw on whenever difficult feelings arise, both during EMDR and in daily life.

What is resourcing?
Resourcing means developing mental ‘safe places’ and calming strategies that help you feel stable and in control. Think of it as strengthening your emotional foundation before we begin processing harder material.

Why do we do this?
EMDR can bring up intense emotions. Resourcing ensures you have reliable ways to calm your nervous system and return to a sense of safety if things feel overwhelming. These aren't just techniques for our sessions — they're skills you can use anytime you feel activated or dysregulated.

Internal resourcing
This involves creating mental images and memories that bring a sense of calm, safety, or strength. We might develop a ‘safe place’ visualisation — a real or imagined space where you feel completely at ease — or connect with a memory of feeling confident and capable.

External resourcing
These are practical techniques that help regulate your nervous system in the moment. The worksheets you'll complete this week introduce methods like:
• Grounding exercises (using your senses to anchor to the present)
• Breathing techniques to slow your heart rate and activate your body's calming response
• Engaging with activities that help calm and ground you
But external resourcing goes well beyond these exercises. It's really about anything that shifts you out of overthinking ‘doing mode’ and into a calmer ‘being mode.’ This might include connecting with loved ones, spending time in nature, creative activities, gentle movement, listening to music, or whatever helps you feel relaxed and present. The goal is to build a diverse personal toolkit — different strategies work better in different situations, and what helps on a stressful workday might be different from what you need after a difficult session.

What to expect
By the end of this week, you'll have a personalised set of go-to strategies for downregulating your nervous system when it's activated. This foundation makes the processing work in later weeks feel safer and more manageable.

Look out for Phase 3 next time.

04/07/2026

The 8 Phases of EMDR
Week Phase What it helps with
1 History Taking Building a gentle overview of your story and what may be connected to your current difficulties.
2 Preparation Developing grounding, stability, emotional regulation, and a sense of safety before processing begins.
3 Assessment Identifying the specific memory, image, belief, emotion, and body sensations linked to the target.
4 Desensitisation Processing the distress connected to the memory so it begins to feel less intense.
5 Installation Strengthening a more helpful and adaptive belief about yourself.
6 Body Scan Checking whether any disturbance is still held in the body.
7 Closure Ending each session safely, with grounding and support before you leave.
8 Re-evaluation Reviewing what has shifted and deciding what needs attention next.

Week 1 post - Phase 1 of EMDR
The 8 Phases of EMDR: Week 1 - History Taking
When people hear about EMDR, they often imagine going straight into traumatic memories.

But EMDR does not begin there. It begins with understanding you.

Phase 1 of EMDR is called History Taking. This is the stage where your therapist gently begins to build an overview of your life story, your current difficulties, and the experiences that may be connected to what you are struggling with now. I often think of this phase as creating a map.

We are not necessarily stopping at every place on the map. We are not opening everything up in detail. But we are getting a sense of the landscape and where you have been, what has shaped you, what messages you may have taken in, and what experiences may still be affecting you today.

This might include exploring things such as:
• your early life and family background
• important relationships and influences
• messages you received about yourself, others, emotions, safety, or trust
• experiences at school, work, or in the wider world
• losses, changes, frightening experiences, or difficult events
• patterns that seem to repeat in your life
• what brings you to therapy now

This does not mean you have to tell your whole story all at once.
And it does not mean we have to go into the details of painful experiences before you are ready.

History taking is about getting a careful overview. It helps us understand what might be important, what might need to be approached gently, and what could possibly come up later during EMDR processing.

One reason this phase matters is that trauma does not always sit neatly in one memory. Sometimes one experience links to another. Sometimes a current trigger is connected to earlier messages, attachment experiences, family patterns, or things we learned about ourselves a long time ago. By taking time with your history, your therapist can begin to understand those links.

This helps make the work safer and more thoughtful.
It means that if something unexpected does come up later in therapy, your therapist will beware of it. There is already a shared map. There is already some understanding of where that material might belong.

Phase 1 is about gently gathering enough information to understand what has shaped you, what you are carrying, and how EMDR can be tailored to you.

Because EMDR is not simply a technique.
It is a structured, careful, collaborative therapy - and Phase 1 is where that collaboration begins.

Next week: Phase 2 - Preparation, where we look at how EMDR helps you build grounding, stability, and emotional regulation before processing begins.

Stay tuned…

21/06/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIJZQAr9nQo
Sometimes we understand logically that the past is over, yet our nervous system continues to react as though the experience is still happening.
EMDR is a specialised therapy that helps the brain process difficult experiences so they no longer feel as emotionally overwhelming in the present.
This short animation gives a simple introduction to how EMDR works.
Initial appointments £35, further sessions start at £60 for 1 hour.
Sarah Blay MBACP (Accred)
EMDR Therapist | Trauma Therapist | Couples Counsellor | Clinica

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