PTI Blog
PTI Blog
EMDR for First Responders: Treating the Clients Who Were Trained to Feel Nothing
The emotional armor that keeps first responders alive on shift is the same thing that stalls EMDR reprocessing in Phase 4. How the S.A.F.E. framework, The Rock and The Hero adaptations, and a body-based interoceptive pause change the work.
EMDR Basic Training vs. EMDR Certification: What Is the Difference?
Finishing an EMDRIA-approved basic training and being EMDRIA Certified are different milestones. What each one means, whether certification is worth it, and how to plan the path from one to the other.
How to Choose an EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Basic Training: 7 Questions to Ask Before You Register
Not all EMDR basic trainings are equal. Seven questions that separate a training you will actually use from an expensive certificate, from EMDRIA approval to practicum time and post-training support.
Why Your Own Healing Is the Most Powerful Tool in Your EMDR Practice
Every symptom is an adaptation. Every adaptation points to something unhealed. And for EMDR clinicians, the place to start looking is within. In a recent free webinar hosted by the Personal Transformation Institute, PTI founder and SAFE Approach developer Deb Kenard...
SAFE EMDR Training: A Deep Dive Into Somatic & Attachment-Focused EMDR
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder If you’ve been searching for an EMDR approach that feels more grounded, more relational, and more effective with complex trauma, SAFE EMDR training offers a powerful way forward. Developed by Personal Transformation Institute (PTI), SAFE...
Cognitive Interweaves in EMDR: What Works, When to Use Them, and When to Step Back
TL;DR: Cognitive interweaves aren’t “mini CBT.” They’re brief, attuned prompts used only when EMDR processing stalls—e.g., looping, shame, or dysregulation. Keep them short (one out-breath), offer them as an experiment, then return to BLS and let the client’s system...
Uncovering Trauma: How EMDR Therapists Can Work Through Protective Adaptations
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder Unresolved trauma doesn’t always show up as flashbacks or panic attacks. Often, it hides beneath layers of protective adaptations, patterns of behavior, emotion, and belief that once served to protect...
From Presenting Issue to Touchstone Memory in EMDR: A Somatic and Attachment-Informed Approach
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder When clients arrive in therapy, they often bring surface-level symptoms—anxiety, relationship struggles, emotional reactivity—but beneath those symptoms lie deeper patterns shaped by early life experiences. In our recent webinar, “From...
Treatment Planning and Finding the Targets in EMDR: What Every Therapist Should Know
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder At the Personal Transformation Institute (PTI), our monthly free webinars are designed to help clinicians deepen their understanding of trauma and refine their skills in EMDR therapy. In our latest session—Treatment Planning and Finding the...
Unlocking the Power of EMDR: Highlights from Our Free Webinar
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder At the Personal Transformation Institute (PTI), we’re passionate about sharing the life-changing potential of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. In our most recent free webinar, attended by clinicians across the...