EMDR with Children

When most people think of EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), they often picture deep, intense sessions with adults, unpacking traumatic memories and working through painful emotions.    

It's understandable why some therapists—even you, perhaps—might feel hesitant about using EMDR with children, isn’t it?  

Maybe you’re scared, overwhelmed or confused about how to bring this to your work with kids. After all, they don’t have the same verbal tools or emotional capacity as adults. How can this powerful technique really work with younger clients?    

I’m here to share with you that EMDR therapy with children is not only possible, but it can also be incredibly effective and transformative.    

The Basics Are Your Foundation – Let Yourself Get Creative   

When you first take EMDR Basic Training, you’re given a framework that can be used with almost anyone. It’s an integrative, comprehensive psychotherapy that’s been proven to be effective for treating trauma, or any experience that has had a lasting negative impact on a client. You’ve learned the basic tools, protocols and guidelines to bring this psychotherapy into your practice.    

The beauty of EMDR is that, while the basics are universal, you get to be creative in how you apply them.    

This is where working with kids can be an absolute game changer.    

The standard EMDR protocol is flexible enough to adapt to different needs, and with children, that might mean integrating it into play, using toys, puppets, a sand tray, and even art.    

The key is integrating what you know into a way that speaks to the child’s world—and this takes practice, patience, and a bit of imagination!   

Play: The Universal Language of Children   

Now, here’s the thing: kids don’t always “get” therapy in the way adults do. When they’re asked to talk about their trauma or difficult feelings, it can feel like a foreign language to them.    

That’s where play comes in. Play is the language of children. It’s how they process emotions, express fears, and make sense of the world around them.    

As a therapist, you’re not going to expect your clients who are children to understand everything from an adult perspective. Instead, you’ll be translating your EMDR therapy, a language of words, into the language they understand best: play.    

Think about it: instead of talking directly about a traumatic event, you might use dolls, action figures, or drawings to help a child express their emotions or experience in a way that feels natural.    

I worked with a young girl who was not able to speak about her traumatic experience as her own; it felt too scary and overwhelming for her. So, we used a teddy bear that she was fond of in my office, and she gave that teddy bear a name and spoke to me about the teddy’s experience.    

That story was hers, as she only had her own life experience to pull from, and I knew why she was coming in to see me.  However, because the story was now the teddy bear’s experience, she could speak it out loud.    

For the reprocessing, she helped me out by holding the teddy bear’s hands, so he wasn’t alone. This also kept the “buzzies” (a tactile bilateral stimulation instrument) in place and that sweet teddy bear felt so much better after each session.    

You can create a safe place with markers and paper, allowing your client to create an imaginary world in the sky, play dough if they are a tactile kid, or in a sand tray if they need the combination of visual and sensory. Therapists can use puppets, a magic wand, or you can get creative with other items you may already have in your office space for visual bilateral stimulation.    

A pre-teen I worked with enjoyed the stress ball that I had in my office. So instead of the “buzzies,” which he would get very distracted by, he would watch me toss the stress ball back and forth. Then, as our processing progressed, he too had a stress ball that he would toss back and forth for his bilateral sets. This kept him engaged and utilized both eye movements and tactile stimulation.    

Comic strips or story boards can also be used to express shifts between sets when visual expression comes easier than verbal descriptions.    

When you’re working with kids, don’t worry about perfectly following the standard protocol as you practiced in EMDR basic training – that Negative & Positive Cognitions List (NC/PC) may not fit just right, but the themes are there. Instead, find what works best for the child in front of you and go with it.    

The goal is the same: to help them process and heal.   

The Magic of Early Intervention   

Here’s the best part: You have the chance to make a huge difference!   

As research in neuroscience continues to reveal the profound impact of early experiences on brain development, it becomes clear that childhood offers a crucial window for therapeutic intervention. According to Dr. Daniel Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, "The brain is actually “plastic,” or moldable. This means that the brain physically changes through the course of our lives… What molds our brain? Experience.” (Siegel & Bryson, 2011, p. 17). Because the brain is being molded by experience, early interventions can help to rewire the neural pathways that have been created through traumatic experiences, leading to healthier adaptations and integration.  

In Basic Training, therapists learn about the brain’s adaptations to life experiences and that patterns formed early in life set the stage for future emotional responses and a developing sense of self.  In his book, “The Developing Brain”, Dr. Siegel explains that trauma experiences during childhood can disrupt the organization of the brain. However, the brain can reorganize itself in response to new experiences, which means that healing is possible when we provide children with the right kind of emotional support and safe, enriching experiences (Siegel, 1999).  

If you can help the children in your office process trauma and create positive, adaptive coping strategies, you’re not just helping them in the moment – you’re setting them up for success as they grow.    

You can step into a client’s life at a crucial point in development, offering healing when their neural pathways are still being shaped. There’s no better time to be a part of that journey.    

So, be excited! The difference you make today will ripple out into their future.   

Embrace the Possibility   

It might feel a little intimidating at first but trust me when I say, you’ve got this.    

EMDR with children doesn’t have to be an over-complicated or scary process. With the right mindset – creativity, patience, and a solid understanding of the EMDR framework – you can use this powerful psychotherapy to help kids heal, grow, and thrive.    

Research has proven that the earlier you get started, the more profound the impact can be. So, if you’ve been hesitant to utilize EMDR with the kids on your caseload, I encourage you to take the plunge.    

Play, imagination, creativity, and the therapeutic relationship you have built with your client are all you need to transform a child’s life.    

If you’d like guidance or support as you step into this work, you can reach out to me directly at jessica@jhagancounseling.com. We can work together to help build your confidence and competence in using EMDR therapy to support your client’s emotional healing.    

The stronger and more excited our community of clinicians are to do this work with children, the bigger impact we can have on the next generation, so please share this article with other healers in your network.   

References:   

de Roos, C., Offermans, J., Bouwmeester, S., Lindauer, R., & Scheper, F. (2025). Preliminary efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing for children aged 1.5-8 years with PTSD: a multiple baseline experimental design (N = 19). European journal of psychotraumatology, 16(1), 2447654. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2024.2447654   

Shapiro, E., & Maxfield, L. (2019). The efficacy of EMDR early interventions. Journal of EMDR Practice & Research, 13(4), 291-301. https://doi.org/10.1891/1933-3196.13.4.291   

Siegel, D. J. (1999). The developing mind: How relationships and the brain interact to shape who we are. Guilford Press. urn:oclc:record:593240153  

Siegel, D. J., & Bryson, T. P. (2011). The whole-brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child's developing mind. Delacorte Press.  https://a.co/d/8TlhMqv