Why Every Suggestion Matters in EMDR Therapy - Recommending IS Clinical | Episode 119

Описание: Welcome to EMDR Playground, the podcast for therapists who want to integrate EMDR and play with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Hosted by Jackie Flynn, Registered Play Therapist, EMDRIA Trainer, and author of the EMDR with Kids Flipchart, this show explores how fidelity to the EMDR model, a deep understanding of the nervous system, and the language of play can transform therapy for children, teens, and adults.

Each episode offers practical strategies, expert conversations, and insights you can use right away to help your clients heal more deeply. Whether you’re EMDR-trained or just beginning to explore this powerful approach, EMDR Playground is your space to grow, connect, and bring more depth and effectiveness to your work.
In this episode, we explore something we do every week in practice but rarely examine closely.
Recommendations.

Books.
Apps.
Breathwork.
Sleep tools.
Supplements.
Journaling prompts.
Support groups.
Retreats.
Productivity systems.


These may feel like small suggestions. They are not.

Every recommendation is an intervention. It shapes what a client does between sessions, often when they are alone and outside their window of tolerance.

When a recommendation fits, it can build regulation and capacity.
When it misses, it can amplify shame, threat, or collapse.

This episode invites EMDR therapists to apply the same precision to recommendations that we apply to targeting, pacing, and reprocessing.

What We Cover

Why recommending is clinical, not casual
How tools interact with nervous system states
The risk of unintentionally reinforcing negative cognitions
How power and authority shape client uptake
Why cultural context and lived experience must be considered
What to do when a recommendation backfires
The Three Checks Before You Recommend Anything
It Fits
Does this align with the client’s age, neurotype, cultural context, and current phase of EMDR
Does it match your case conceptualization
Safety
Could this push them outside their window
Are there medical, psychological, or digital risks
Could it increase dissociation, panic, avoidance, or shutdown
Meaning
If this does not work, what story might the client make
Will it increase shame or performance pressure
Will it build capacity or dependency


Key Clinical Reminder
Recommendations are adjunctive supports.
They are not substitutes for assessment, phase based work, or reprocessing.
If a tool reinforces “I am not enough,” we may be strengthening a network we will later need to target.

Memorable Line
If we are precise with bilateral stimulation, we need to be precise with what we send clients home with.

Reflection Question
Before your next recommendation, ask
What might be the unintended nervous system cost of this suggestion for this client, right now

About EMDR Playground
EMDR Playground is a space for therapists who want to practice with depth, precision, and fidelity to the EMDR model across the lifespan. We move beyond hacks and trends toward thoughtful, nervous system informed care.