Culturally Responsive EMDR Training

Clients bring their whole selves to EMDR: their race, culture, language, faith, family, community and history. So do clinicians. In Kyle Poon's EMDR Basic Training, cultural humility and cultural safety are part of both how the course is taught and what you learn to do in each phase of EMDR therapy.

This matters for every trainee, and it's meant to make the training a place where Black, Indigenous and other clinicians of colour (BIPOC) can learn EMDR without having to leave parts of themselves at the door.

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Kyle Poon, R.Psych, explaining a concept while teaching an EMDR Basic Training

Why it matters: what the research says

  • Clients notice, and it affects outcomes. In a meta-analysis of 15 studies, clients' ratings of how culturally responsive their therapist was were linked to better treatment outcomes (r = .38). Therapists' ratings of themselves were not (r = .06). What counts is the client's experience, not the clinician's confidence, which is the heart of cultural humility.
  • Cultural adaptation helps. Across 99 studies, culturally adapted treatments did better than unadapted ones. The effect was moderate, d = 0.50, or about 0.35 after correcting for publication bias.
  • Cultural humility and missed opportunities. Therapists' cultural humility is linked to a stronger therapeutic alliance. When therapists miss chances to explore a client's cultural identity, outcomes tend to be worse, and humility appears to soften that effect. Racial and ethnic microaggressions in therapy are common: 53% to 81% of clients of colour report at least one.
  • Racial trauma is real trauma. Researchers describe racial trauma as ongoing individual and collective injury from repeated exposure to racism and discrimination. It resembles PTSD, but it often continues in the present.
  • EMDR clinicians may underestimate culture. In one study of 56 EMDR clinicians, most saw the standard procedures as flexible enough "regardless of cultural considerations." The authors concluded that more intentional reflection on culture and EMDR may be needed.

What the research doesn't yet show: studies of culturally adapted EMDR specifically are still early. Most are qualitative studies, case reports and expert guidance, not randomized trials. The training teaches these adaptations as clinical judgment grounded in the broader psychotherapy research, not as proven protocols.

Two ideas the training builds on

Cultural humility

A lifelong stance of self-reflection and openness to each client's own cultural identity. It means staying curious instead of assuming, and recognizing the power the clinician holds. You don't master a culture; you keep learning from each person in front of you.

Cultural safety

Developed by Māori nurse Irihapeti Ramsden in Aotearoa New Zealand. The clinician examines their own culture, biases and power, and the client, not the clinician, decides whether care feels safe.

How it shows up in the way the training is taught

  • Repairing harm. If harm or a microaggression happens during the training, Kyle names it, takes responsibility and repairs it openly rather than moving past it. You can raise it in the group or privately.
  • Choice in practicum. You choose your own practice targets and how much to share. No one is expected to process identity-based or racial trauma in front of peers. Lower-disturbance targets are always an option.
  • Diverse case examples. Demonstrations and case examples reflect a range of cultures, languages, family structures, faiths and identities. They don't treat any one group as the default.
  • Culture as a standing part of consultation. In the 10 included consultation hours, cultural factors are part of every case discussion, not a special topic. This is consistent with EMDRIA's guidance on bringing inclusion, diversity, equity and access into consultation.
  • Room to speak up. Trainees can raise concerns privately with Kyle during the training. Every trainee also completes an anonymous evaluation, which is used to improve future trainings.

How it shows up in the EMDR content, phase by phase

The training teaches EMDR Consulting's EMDRIA-approved curriculum, developed by Roy Kiessling. Cultural considerations are woven into each phase.

A Black woman in an online therapy session from her home, with her therapist on a laptop screen

Phase 1: History taking and treatment planning

Ask about racial, cultural, collective and intergenerational experiences, not only individual events. Explore identity, language, acculturation, faith and community. With Indigenous clients, understand the history and ongoing effects of colonization and residential schools. Canada's psychology Truth and Reconciliation task force warns that clinicians without this context "are at risk of traumatizing Indigenous clients."

Phase 2: Preparation

Build resources that are meaningful to the client, such as faith, music, land, ancestors, family, Elders or community. Talk openly about cultural differences between clinician and client. Plan for stabilization when discrimination is still happening in the client's life, not only in the past.

Phase 3: Assessment

Find negative and positive cognitions that fit the client's worldview, including collective "we" beliefs. Separate trauma-based beliefs from realistic appraisals of ongoing risk. "I'm not safe" can be partly accurate for someone facing ongoing racism. Offer alternatives to number scales, such as hand gestures or pictures, where they fit better.

Phases 4–6: Desensitization, installation and body scan

Choose forms of bilateral stimulation that fit the client. For example, therapists in five African countries often used tapping instead of eye movements. Use cultural and spiritual interweaves that fit the client's own framework. Notice when your own cultural lens is shaping your interweaves.

Phases 7–8: Closure and reevaluation

Close sessions with the client's ongoing stressors in mind. Include collective and community goals in reevaluation. Use future templates to prepare for situations where discrimination may happen again.

The training also covers when EMDR may not be the best fit or the right moment, and when another approach should come first or alongside it, such as an Elder, a traditional healer or community-based support.

For BIPOC clinicians

Your experience is welcome in this training as clinical knowledge, not just as a personal story. If there's something that would help you take part fully, such as practicum pairing, pacing or how you'd like your experiences handled in consultation, contact Kyle before the training. He'll do what he can.

The training offers a reduced rate for clinicians in non-profit and community mental health settings, and for students and interns.

Keep learning

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Written by Kyle Poon, M.Ed., R.Psych, EMDRIA Approved Trainer and Consultant · Reviewed November 2026

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