Phase 1 professional guide
EMDR case conceptualization worksheet: treatment planning map
Use private printable EMDR case conceptualization and treatment-goal worksheets to map AIP hypotheses, uncertainty, readiness, measures, and review points.
By the EMDRSuite Editorial Team
Product claims checked against the current EMDRSuite code and interface.
No independent clinical reviewer is named for this guide.
Separate the clinical history, formulation, and plan
A history gathers relevant information; a formulation organizes that information into a working understanding; a treatment plan records priorities, rationale, sequence, and review points. Collapsing all three into one list of events makes the record harder to reason about and easier to overinterpret.
An EMDR case conceptualization is not a diagnosis generated by a worksheet. It is a clinician-owned, revisable account informed by the Adaptive Information Processing model, the patient's current needs and context, professional assessment, and the limits of the therapist's competence.
Map connections without turning them into certainty
A structured record can distinguish presenting concerns, relevant experiences, present triggers, adaptive information and resources, future situations, and candidate memory networks. The map should preserve uncertainty and alternatives rather than present a single software-produced explanation as fact.
Past, present, and future give the plan a useful orientation, but they do not impose an automatic order. Target selection and sequencing depend on the complete clinical picture, readiness, consent, safety, treatment goals, and ongoing response.
Use the two printable maps without generating a formulation
The treatment-goal planner starts with change the patient values in daily life and makes measures, baseline, review points, alternatives, and preferences visible. A target, SUD score, diagnostic label, or completed phase is not by itself a functional outcome.
The separate case conceptualization worksheet distinguishes assessed information, working hypotheses, strengths, current context, uncertainty, competing explanations, patient perspective, and dated revisions. Both stay in the browser and are not submitted or saved; the authorized clinical record remains separate.
Make readiness and scope visible in the plan
Treatment planning includes more than a target list. It should make visible what has been assessed, what preparation may be needed, which questions remain open, what falls outside the current scope, and when consultation, referral, or additional training is indicated.
Dissociation, current risk, stability, supports, medical or substance-related factors, cultural context, and the therapeutic relationship may all be relevant. This guide does not provide a screening instrument or threshold; therapists should use validated measures and procedures appropriate to their training and jurisdiction.
Use software as a longitudinal record, not a clinical authority
A useful digital workspace keeps formulation, sequence, session observations, and reevaluation connected over time. It should allow edits and dated updates without silently rewriting what was known earlier.
EMDRSuite can organize patient, session, target and worksheet records. It does not infer memory networks, assess suitability, rank targets, recommend protocols, or decide when to proceed. Those decisions remain with the appropriately trained professional.
Worked treatment-planning example
Fictional EMDR treatment plan example: goals, hypotheses, and review points
This invented map shows how a therapist can keep a patient-defined functional goal, a revisable AIP hypothesis, candidate targets, readiness questions, alternatives, and outcome review visibly separate.
Fictional training scenario only. It is not a diagnosis, protocol, target order, readiness decision, or substitute for an authorized clinical record.
1. Desired change and baseline
- Patient-defined goal: resume an agreed travel routine with less avoidance and greater choice.
- Baseline: record current frequency, functional impact, and an appropriate validated measure only when selected by the therapist.
- Review point: compare function, symptoms, adverse effects, preference, and progress after the agreed interval.
2. Working formulation, not certainty
- Hypothesis: a transport-related reminder may connect present avoidance with earlier distressing learning.
- Open questions: current danger, medical contributors, dissociation, comorbidity, cultural meaning, supports, and competing explanations.
- Patient perspective and disagreement remain visible rather than being replaced by software-generated interpretation.
3. Candidate map
- Past candidate: a minimally labelled earlier transport event; present candidate: the current sound cue; future situation: the selected travel routine.
- Candidates are not completed Phase 3 assessments and do not impose a past-present-future treatment order.
- Selection, wording, sequence, and any change in scope require clinical rationale and a dated revision.
4. Readiness, alternatives, and revision
- Record consent, preparation, relevant assessment, pause control, risk and remote contingencies as applicable, without converting them into a pass-fail score.
- Document alternatives discussed, patient preference, consultation or referral questions, and conditions that would prompt pause or review.
- Keep the previous plan visible when goals, evidence, context, or target priorities change.
Collaborative planning resource
Printable EMDR treatment goals and objectives planner
Use it to draft a patient-defined, measurable, revisable plan. Entries remain only in this browser page and are never submitted or saved.
No server storage · no autosave · close or reload to clear
Planning aid for appropriately trained professionals. It does not diagnose, generate goals, select targets, establish readiness, or replace an authorized clinical record.
AIP formulation resource
Printable EMDR case conceptualization worksheet and AIP formulation map
Build a dated, revisable working formulation while separating patient report, assessed information, hypotheses, uncertainty, and treatment decisions. Entries remain only in this browser page.
No server storage · no autosave · use Clear all fields before leaving
Clinician-owned drafting aid, not a diagnosis, generated formulation, treatment plan, target selector, readiness test, or risk assessment. Use authorized assessment, records, consultation, and professional judgment.
FAQ
EMDR treatment plan template
What is EMDR case conceptualization?
It is a clinician-developed, revisable understanding of the case informed by the AIP model, assessment, context, current needs, and treatment goals.
Is case conceptualization the same as a target sequence plan?
No. The target sequence is one part of a broader formulation and treatment plan.
Does the printable planner generate EMDR treatment goals?
No. It is a private drafting aid. Goals, measures, targets, readiness, alternatives, and review decisions remain collaborative clinical work.
Can a template determine readiness for reprocessing?
No. A template can organize evidence and open questions, but readiness requires appropriate assessment, training, consent, and clinical judgment.
Should software recommend the first target?
No. Software may record the therapist's rationale, but it should not make the clinical sequencing decision.
References
EMDR case conceptualization worksheet: treatment planning map
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