Course Description

This EMDRIA-approved EMDR therapy training goes beyond the standard EMDR curriculum and is designed for both seasoned practitioners as well as those new to this work, providing a rich, dynamic curriculum that equips trainees with the skills needed to transform their practice. Through engaging demonstrations and practical applications, this course will deepen your expertise and broaden your impact in working with your clients.


When you embark on your EMDR journey with The Touchstone Institute's foundational training, you not only add a powerful modality to your therapeutic toolkit, you join a community of peers passionate about making a difference in perinatal mental health.


EMDRIA-approved EMDR trainings are comprised of two components:

  • Six days of training  offered in two three-day parts (you must complete all 6 days of training) These training days consist of:
    • Lecture and discussion (about 50% of training time)
    • Practicum in dyads and triads (about 50% of training time)
  • 10 hours of consultation (group or individual) with a Touchstone-approved consultant or consultant-in-training. EMDRIA requires your 10 hours of consultation to be completed within one year of beginning the training.


Please note: consultation hours are NOT included in the price of the training. This allows you to choose from among a long list of EMDRIA-approved consultants and consultants-in-training with a wide range of pricing and specializations who can support you as you integrate EMDR into your clinical practice. It also allows you to pace your consultation in a way that works for you and your clinical situation.


Registration Deadline: April 26, 2025

This course takes place live on Zoom. Check out this link for Zoom requirements.

For more information on our work at The Touchstone Institute, visit our website.

Course Overview

  • Live Interactive Workshop on Zoom

    Part 1: April 27-29, 2025 from 11:00am-7:30pm EST Part 2: August 10-12, 2025 from 11:00am-7:30pm EST

  • Prerequisites

    All licensed mental health professionals, pre-licensed mental health professionals, and graduate students in a mental health discipline are eligible for this course. See Training Agreement below.

  • CE Credits

    Participants are eligible to receive 42 CE credits for this training (see more details below)

Before registering for this training:

Please read the following document to ensure you agree with all training policies. Participating in EMDR therapy training is a big commitment and we want to ensure trainees understand the full scope of training requirements. By registering for this training you agree to the training agreement. If you have any questions about this agreement, please reach out to us. 

Training Agreement

Note on Accessibility:

This course will be presented in ASL without voice interpretation. If there is anything else you need to make our trainings accessible to you, please reach out to us at [email protected]. We recognize that every person has access needs and we are happy to do everything we can to meet yours.
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Course Details

    1. Course Description

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. By Registering For This Training, You Acknowledge And Agree To The Following_

    3. Introduction

    4. Get to know your Instructor!

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. EMDR Therapy Training Overview

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. Training Schedule

      FREE PREVIEW

    7. Zoom Information

    8. Learning Objectives

      FREE PREVIEW

    9. Anti-Oppression Statement from The Touchstone Institute

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. Important Reminders for Moving Forward

    1. 2nd Edition Manual

    2. 2nd Edition Manual (hard copy)

    3. Your Practicum Packets (Part 1)

    4. All the Worksheets are Here (for use after completion of Part 1)

    1. The History of EMDR Therapy

    2. EMDRIA-Required Reading and Resources

    3. Lessons Learned from Perinatal Mental Health - Go With That Magazine (Winter, 2022)

    4. Go With That Magazine

    5. EMDR Therapy Research

    6. Additional References and Resources

    7. Interweaves

    1. Weaving: Metaphor for EMDR

    2. Full Demo Phases 1-7

    3. Container Demo

    4. Double Dutch (BLS)

    5. Haka (BLS

    6. Choir Swaying (BLS)

    7. Mama rocking preemie baby

    8. Bomba (BLS)

    9. Swimming (BLS)

    10. Phases 4-7 Demo

    1. Simple Grounding Practice

    2. Light Stream

    3. Simple Breath Practice

    4. Parts Work Centering Exercise

    5. Sample Light Stream Script

    6. Grounding Tree Meditation

    7. Blocked Processing Role-Play

About this course

  • $1350
  • Part 1: April 27-29, 2025 Part 2: August 10-12, 2025
  • 42 CEs

Payment Options

We are unable to offer tiered pricing for this training. Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you are interested in a payment plan not listed here. We are always happy to create a custom payment plan to make it more feasible for everyone to participate in our courses.

Scholarship Information

Our scholarship application process is closed for this round of Foundational. More 50% scholarships will be offered for our next Foundational EMDR training.

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Instructor

Leslie Pertz, LMSW, PMH-C, NIC

Instructor

Leslie began her professional career as an HR manager, recruiter and regional trainer for a big box retail store, then shifted to learning American Sign Language and worked for many years as a nationally certified freelance ASL-English interpreter, some days getting to meet Barack Obama or His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and other days working around horses in a horse barn. She then attended graduate school in social work at Michigan State University, and later worked in hospital/medical settings including NICU, labor/delivery, pediatrics, inpatient rehabilitation, ICU, dialysis, and primary care. She worked for many years at Michigan Medicine and helped start the Deaf Health Clinic at that institution. She has been in private practice since 2016 and specializes in reproductive psychotherapy, and is a certified perinatal mental health clinician through Postpartum Support International. Leslie’s current clinical focus is primarily on women and birth givers who have experienced birth trauma, pregnancy/ infant loss, infertility, and postpartum anxiety. She additionally sees people who are in recovery from substance abuse, and complex trauma. Leslie learned EMDR in 2016 after experiencing the healing treatment herself, and has continued the journey through certification and becoming an approved consultant and trainer with Mara Tesler Stein. She has additional training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, clinical hypnosis, CBT, DBT, Motivational Interviewing, ACT, TF-CBT, and many advanced topics in EMDR. Leslie is currently planning to start her own group psychotherapy practice that will incorporate somatic and adjunct healing modalities, she is a reiki master, and is in training to become a yoga instructor. Leslie enjoys consulting individually and with groups who are in the midst of basic training, or those seeking ongoing certification, or those who just wish to improve their skills in the powerful modality of EMDR. Leslie has co-presented at EMDR Canada on EMDR for TMFR (termination for medical reasons), has facilitated basic training for the last several years, and has consultees from across North America and from around the globe. Leslie lives with her spouse and two bichon frises (Alexis Rose and Keeley Jones) in Ann Arbor, MI, and when she is not working she enjoys cross stitching, being at Lake Michigan, cross country skiing, yoga, and binging any serialized television available.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Day 1:

  • Identify three parts of the triune brain and their functions
  • Describe the window of tolerance
  • Compare top-down vs bottom-up forms of therapy
  • Explain the Adaptive Information Processing Model
  • List the 8 phases of EMDR therapy
  • Identify the phases of EMDR therapy while watching a complete session
  • Demonstrate phase 1 of EMDR therapy

Day 2:

  • Identify the stages of trauma treatment 
  • Explain the process of EMDR therapy to clients 
  • Demonstrate multiple thematic history taking procedures
  • Explain negative and positive cognitions
  • Demonstrate 2 forms of resourcing
  • Apply 2 forms of bilateral stimulation
  • Assess client readiness to move from resourcing to phases 3-7
  • Apply phases 3-7 of EMDR
  • Plan closure of a complete session and closure of an incomplete session

Day 3:

  • Identify the various components of phase 8 reevaluation
  • Plan and implement a Future Template
  • Demonstrate phase 8 reevaluation
  • Identify treatment planning considerations
  • Create a treatment plan
  • Discussion of advanced issues in processing including addressing dissociation, intense emotional responses, and methods to work with them.
  • Describe how abreaction can present in clients
  • Assess for abreaction in clients

Day 4:

  • Identify and describe blocking beliefs
  • Identify and explain feeder memories
  • Demonstrate interweaves as a strategy to unblock processing
  • Identify dissociation
  • Identify and apply ways to assess for dissociation
  • Identify abreactions and list ways to process through abreaction
  • Apply phases 1-8 of EMDR therapy as a clinician, a therapist, and an observer.

Day 5:

  • Identify specific populations that may require further consideration in the application of EMDR therapy. 
  • Discuss clinical considerations for specific populations receiving EMDR therapy. 
  • Discuss the ethical implications of practicing EMDR therapy with specific populations.
  • Apply phases 1-8 of EMDR therapy as a clinician, a therapist, and an observer.

Day 6:

  • Plan a case-specific conceptualization to include presenting issues and appropriate interventions. 
  • Apply case examples to treatment planning of EMDR therapy 
  • Identify specific and measurable goals for EMDR treatment plan for identified client
  • Identify legal issues that should be considered when providing EMDR therapy 
  • Identify professional standards to ensure clinicians practice EMDR ethically and responsibly.
  • Identify the importance of ethical factors in the application of therapeutic decision making.
  • Discuss ethical issues that can occur in the practice of EMDR therapy
  • Apply phases 1-8 of EMDR therapy

Continuing Education Credits

Participation in all training sessions and submission of a course evaluation is required to receive a CE certificate for this course. Course evaluations are made available after all live sessions have been completed within the course portal. After completing the evaluation, participants will be able to submit a request for their CE certificate. This training offers 42 CE credits for Parts 1 and 2 combined.

  • It is your responsibility to verify CE coverage in your State or Province.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, Inc. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7346. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, Inc. is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

  • The Touchstone Institute for Perinatal Training, [provider number 1876], is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: [1/19/25-1/19/28]. Social workers completing this course receive 42 continuing education credits.

  • This course is approved by Postpartum Support International (PSI) for continuing education towards obtaining and maintaining the PMH-C

  • This course is approved by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). The Touchstone Institute is an approved training provider with EMDRIA: approval #22021.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why is there no tiered pricing for Foundational/Basic Training?

    Because the overhead for these trainings is fixed and high, we are unable to offer tiered pricing. However, we offer extensive and flexible payment plans. Please reach out to Vanessa at [email protected] to set up payment. We want you to be able to attend this training and will support you to do so in any way we can.

  • Are there payment plan options available?

    Yes! We are happy to work with you to create a payment plan that fits your needs. Please reach out to us over email with a brief description of the length of the plan that you are interested in using to pay for this course: [email protected].

  • What is your cancellation policy?

    More than 14 days notice is required for a full refund minus 7% administrative fee. Cancellations made within 14 days of training are eligible for a 50% refund or full transfer to another training within The Touchstone Institute. Only 1 transfer to another training is allowed. If you can not attend the transferred training your fee will be forfeited. No-shows are not eligible for a refund or transfer. Exceptions to this policy are limited to medically documented circumstances or family bereavements. Failure to attend without prior notification (no-shows) will not qualify for a refund.

  • Am I eligible to take EMDR Foundational/Basic Training?

    For the complete description of eligibility criteria, please go here: https://www.emdria.org/eligibility-requirements-for-emdr-training/

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