As EMDR therapists, we become adept at guiding clients through the past and helping them reprocess distressing memories. But what about the future? Enter the EMDR Future Template, a crucial yet often underutilized tool that can empower clients to envision and embody healthier, more adaptive responses to future situations. Whether you’re a newly trained EMDR therapist or considering consultation to become certified, mastering the Future Template can profoundly enrich your therapeutic toolkit and enhance client outcomes.

What is the EMDR Future Template?

The Future Template, introduced as part of Francine Shapiro’s eight-phase EMDR protocol, is designed to install positive beliefs and coping strategies for future scenarios where a client anticipates distress (Shapiro, 2018). While traditional EMDR targets past traumatic memories, the Future Template focuses on equipping clients to handle future situations with confidence, resilience, and a sense of mastery.

How Does It Work?

In Phase 5 (Installation) and Phase 6 (Body Scan) of the EMDR process, the therapist guides the client to imagine a future event where they’d like to respond differently — perhaps remaining calm while speaking in a meeting or confidently setting boundaries in relationships. The client visualizes this scenario while holding a positive cognition, such as “I am capable” or “My voice matters.” Bilateral stimulation (BLS) is used to reinforce this adaptive response, helping the brain encode the new experience as a “template” for future behavior (Leeds, 2009).

Applications of the EMDR Future Template

The EMDR Future Template can be applied in diverse contexts, making it a versatile intervention:

• Performance Enhancement: Athletes and performers use the Future Template to visualize successful outcomes and reduce performance anxiety (Foster & Lendl, 1996).
• Managing Anticipatory Anxiety: Clients with social anxiety or public speaking fears can mentally rehearse calmness and confidence in triggering situations, replacing avoidance with empowered action (De Jongh & Ten Broeke, 2012).
• Relapse Prevention: In addiction treatment, the Future Template helps clients rehearse coping strategies for high-risk situations, reinforcing their ability to make healthier choices (Hase, Schallmayer, & Sack, 2008).
• Enhancing Self-Efficacy: For those struggling with self-doubt or imposter syndrome, this technique strengthens positive beliefs about their competence, paving the way for growth and resilience (Shapiro, 2018).

Why Use the EMDR Future Template?

Incorporating the Future Template offers several benefits:

• Consolidates Gains: It helps bridge past trauma processing with future resilience, ensuring that therapeutic gains are applied beyond the therapy room.
• Builds Agency: Clients feel more empowered when they can “practice” new responses in a safe environment, increasing their sense of control.
• Strengthens Neural Pathways: Imagining success while engaging in BLS reinforces new neural pathways, making adaptive behaviors more accessible in real-life scenarios (Pagani et al., 2017).

Enhancing the EMDR Journey with Consultation

If you’re on the path toward EMDR Certification, working with a consultant can deepen your understanding of techniques like the Future Template. Consultants offer invaluable insights into case conceptualization and refine your application of EMDR protocols, ensuring you can confidently support clients through both past and future-focused work.

A skilled consultant can also help you recognize when to integrate the Future Template — whether at the end of trauma processing or as a standalone intervention when clients feel “stuck” in anticipating future challenges. This nuanced application transforms therapy from merely resolving past wounds to equipping clients for lifelong resilience.

Final Thoughts on the Future Template and Consultation

Mastering the Future Template is more than just a technique; it’s an invitation for clients to reclaim their narrative and shape the future they deserve. As therapists, our role is to illuminate that path, and working with a knowledgeable EMDR Consultant can make all the difference in refining these skills.

If you’re considering consultation to achieve certification, seeking guidance on the Future Template is a powerful step toward becoming a more effective EMDR therapist. After all, our work isn’t just about healing the past — it’s about empowering clients to thrive in the future.

Jordan Nodelman, LCSW has been EMDR Certified with EMDRIA for many years and is now offering consultation for those Certified-Trained Clinicians (by EMDRIA) seeking EMDRIA, EMDR-Certification. Reach out today to schedule a 15-minute consultation.

References

• De Jongh, A., & Ten Broeke, E. (2012). Treatment of specific phobias with EMDR: Conceptualization and strategies for the selection of appropriate memories. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 6(1), 13–24.
• Foster, S., & Lendl, J. (1996). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: Its use in performance enhancement. The Sport Psychologist, 10(1), 45–56.
• Hase, M., Schallmayer, S., & Sack, M. (2008). EMDR reprocessing of the addiction memory: Pretreatment, posttreatment, and 1-month follow-up. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 2(3), 170‑79.
• Leeds, A. M. (2009). A guide to the standard EMDR protocols for clinicians, supervisors, and consultants. Springer Publishing.
• Pagani, M., Hogberg, G., Fernandez, I., & Siracusano, A. (2017). Correlates of EMDR therapy in functional and structural neuroimaging: A critical summary of recent findings. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 11(2), 84–98.
• Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures. Guilford Press.