Phase 7, the Closure Phase

The purpose of phase 7 is to ensure that the client is able to return to a sense of calm and control before the end of an EMDR therapy session, enabling them to resume functioning for the rest of their day. It’s an important phase in that it bridges the intense emotional work of EMDR processing with helping a client return to their life after the session has ended. Phase 7 occurs after every EMDR session.

Why is Phase 7 Necessary?

During an EMDR session, a client will likely feel intense emotions as they reflect on or process their chosen memory. To ensure the client  can ease back into their day, a therapist will guide the client through phase 7 towards the end of session to help the client ground themselves so that they can reconnect to the present; essentially ‘cooling down’ from the ‘heat’ of the powerful emotions during processing. Consider phase 7 as a cool down period after an intense emotional workout. Examples of these exercises are:

• Guided meditation

• Parts work exercises

• Deep breathing

• Grounding exercises/connecting with one’s body

• Container exercise - containing the unprocessed emotions in a container and storing the container in a safe place while not in session

• Explaining how the client can nurture themselves in between sessions

In summary, the closure phase helps one to experience a gentle and calming closure to each EMDR session. If you have any questions about EMDR or would be interested in scheduling sessions, please feel free to contact me. Thanks for reading!