What is an EMDR Trainer?

Accreditation as an EMDR Europe Trainer is the highest accreditation delivered by EMDR Europe Association.

Only trainers accredited by EMDR Europe, in association with their EMDR Europe accredited courses, are authorized by EMDR Europe to deliver accredited standard training in EMDR therapy within Europe.

Responsibilities of the EMDR Europe Standards Committee

The EMDR Europe Standards Committee has the responsibility for the accreditation of trainers and of their training courses. This Committee is deeply committed to ensuring that the process of accreditation is rigorous and fair, based on clear criteria of assessment.

Pre-application Requirements:

Before beginning the application process, you must have been trained to facilitate on an EMDR Europe accredited training course, (You can download the document at the bottom of the page "EMDR Europe Facilitator"), and have successfully carried out the duties of a facilitator on at least five separate complete training courses. You must also have been mentored as a trainer trainee by a senior EMDR Europe trainer, who has agreed that you are now ready to make this application.

You will find full details of this process in the document "Trainer Accreditation Criteria" (You can download the document at the bottom of the page).

Additional Accreditation for Training Courses:

In addition to your accreditation as a trainer, you must also have your training course accredited. You will find full details in the document “EMDR Standard Training Certification Criteria Europe” You can download the document at the bottom of the page. It is not a requirement that you process both at the same time.

However, you will not receive your certification until your course has been approved, so if you wish to speed up the process, it is helpful if you also send in the documents related to your training course with your application. (If you intend to teach a previously accredited EMDR Europe training course, please read the document “Certification of EMDR training course using previously accredited training” 07/2024 also included in the training certification download).

Reaccreditation Information:

Make sure that you understand the five-year reaccreditation requirements and read both the documents “Trainer reaccreditation criteria” 07/2024 and “Guidelines for National associations – relating to external trainers” available by clicking the relevant download buttons at the bottom of the page.

Application Submission Details:

If you decide to apply, it will be your responsibility, as applicant, to make sure that the Committee receives all the required documentation and videos, with consent from your subjects, for the Standards Committee to view. (You can download the document at the bottom of the page “Permission Video Rating”).

You should provide a link to your material so that it may be accessed by the Standards Committee. The processing of your application does not begin until everything has been received and your non-returnable fee of € 750 has been paid.

Assessment Process:

Once everything has arrived and has been checked, an independent Case Assessor will be appointed by the Standards Committee. You will be informed who this is. The link to your material will be forwarded to your Case Assessor who will review your written work and assess your recordings. This may involve seeking further information or clarification from you. When this process is complete, your Case Assessor will make a full report and recommendation to the Standards Committee.

Your Case Assessor can make one of three recommendations to the committee:

To accept your accreditation
To ask you to re-apply
To reject your application

The entire Standards Committee (with the exception of any Committee member who might have a conflict of interest with your application, either positive or negative), will then discuss your application and the Case Assessor’s report. They will decide which of the three recommendations to make.

If the Committee decides (2) or (3), you and your mentor will be given the reasons and advised how to proceed. We hope that the recommendation will be to accept, but if you do not achieve this on your first application, please see this as a learning opportunity as the Committee aims to enable the development of good trainers.