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EMDR is delivered as an 8-phase course of therapy, not as a single session. Shapiro’s protocol structure has become the international reference for how EMDR is sequenced — and it maps cleanly onto the Rivet tools you’d reach for in each phase.
This is a feature map, not a clinical training. If you’re trained in EMDR, you already know the protocol. If you aren’t, the protocol itself is documented in Shapiro (1995/2001/2018) and learned through formal EMDRIA- or EMDR Canada-recognized training. See Who should not use EMDR.

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Phase 1 — History-taking and treatment planning

You gather history, identify targets, and plan the course of work. Rivet’s contribution here is the intake and screening surface, not the BLS Workspace. What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • The screening scales in the Clinical templates library — PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5 for PTSD severity, dissociation screens — sent before the session or filled in the room.
  • Your own session notes, kept practitioner-private on your device.

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Phase 2 — Preparation

You build the therapeutic relationship, explain EMDR in plain language, and install resources the client can use to interrupt activation between sessions. What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • The Calm place template — the standard Phase 2 resource installation exercise (Daniels, formalized in Shapiro 1995/2001/2018). See the Calm place template.
  • The Container template — the closure resource (Wildwind 1998, Murray 2011) that lets a client set aside material between sessions. See the Container template.
This is also the phase where you’d run the first BLS set — typically a brief test of the modality with neutral content, to check the client is comfortable with the visual stimulus, the audio tone, and the tracking itself before you reach reprocessing.

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Phase 3 — Assessment

You activate the target memory and capture the baseline ratings — image, negative cognition, desired positive cognition, body sensation, VOC (Validity of Cognition, 1–7), and the first SUDS (Subjective Units of Distress, 0–10). What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • Your session notes — Phase 3 capture is therapist-private, not a client- filled template.
The SUDS captured here becomes the first point on the session arc in the BLS Workspace.

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Phase 4 — Desensitization

This is where the BLS Workspace does its job. You tap EMDR in the call toolbar, configure the set, and run sets of bilateral stimulation while the client holds the target. Between sets you capture an updated SUDS in the card that pops automatically. You continue sets until the SUDS reaches 0 (or as close to 0 as the work allows in the time you have). What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • The Configure modal — rate, stimulus, modalities, sound preset, motion path, set count, backdrop. See Setting up an EMDR session.
  • The dual-task prompt sidebar in EMDR 2.0 mode — 15 working-memory prompts you read aloud during the set. See Dual-task prompts.
  • The SUDS card between sets — capture the rating, see the session sparkline. See The SUDS scale.

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Phase 5 — Installation

You strengthen the positive cognition with BLS until VOC reaches 7 (true). What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • The same BLS Workspace — usually shorter sets, lower rate by clinical preference, focused on the installed positive cognition rather than the trauma memory.
  • Your session notes for the VOC capture.

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Phase 6 — Body scan

The client holds the target memory plus the installed positive cognition and scans for residual body disturbance. Any residual disturbance is processed with further BLS until the scan is clear. What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • The Body scan template if you’ve sent a structured version into the session — see the Body scan template.
  • The BLS Workspace for any residual processing.

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Phase 7 — Closure

You bring the client back to equilibrium before the session ends, regardless of where reprocessing is at. If the target wasn’t fully reprocessed, this is where the Container resource gets used. What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • The Container template for incomplete sessions.
  • The BLS Workspace’s Session arc card — the closing summary with the SUDS trajectory, stats tiles, and one-tap Copy to your chart. See The session arc.

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Phase 8 — Reevaluation

The next session opens with a check on the previous target — any new material, any residual disturbance, any treatment effects. The Future template lives here — the client rehearses an anticipated future situation with the installed positive cognition. What you’d reach for in Rivet:
  • The Future template in the EMDR templates section — see the Future template.
  • The BLS Workspace for the future-template installation work.

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A note on how phases overlap

A single session can touch Phases 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 — sometimes all of them. The BLS Workspace doesn’t try to model “what phase are you in?” because the answer changes mid-session. The Workspace gives you the stimulus and the SUDS capture; you bring the clinical phase awareness.

Setting up an EMDR session

A walkthrough of the Configure modal — every control, every parameter.

The SUDS scale

Wolpe’s 0–10 scale, how Rivet captures it between sets, and the session arc rendering.

EMDR templates

Calm place, Container, Body scan, and Future template — the phase-2, phase-6, phase-7, and phase-8 pairings.