Play Therapy Community podcast

119: Why Every Suggestion Matters in EMDR Therapy "Recommending IS Clinical"

27.2.2026

Play Therapy Community

0:00
18:27
15 Sekunden vorwärts
15 Sekunden vorwärts

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
  1. Why recommending is clinical, not casual
  2. How tools interact with nervous system states
  3. The risk of unintentionally reinforcing negative cognitions
  4. How power and authority shape client uptake
  5. Why cultural context and lived experience must be considered
  6. What to do when a recommendation backfires
  7. The Three Checks Before You Recommend Anything
  8. It Fits
  9. Does this align with the client's age, neurotype, cultural context, and current phase of EMDR
  10. Does it match your case conceptualization
  11. Safety
  12. Could this push them outside their window
  13. Are there medical, psychological, or digital risks
  14. Could it increase dissociation, panic, avoidance, or shutdown
  15. Meaning
  16. If this does not work, what story might the client make
  17. Will it increase shame or performance pressure
  18. 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.

Weitere Episoden von „Play Therapy Community“

Weitere Episoden

Hol dir die ganze Welt der Podcasts mit der kostenlosen GetPodcast App.

Abonniere alle deine Lieblingspodcasts, höre Episoden auch offline und erhalte passende Empfehlungen für Podcasts, die dich wirklich interessieren.

iOS buttonAndroid button
© radio.de GmbH 2026radio.net logo
Ein Unternehmen vonMADSACK