Written by Dee Keller, Licensed Professional Counselor
š This article is part of Teleo's full EMDR support series. If you're new to EMDR or want to start from the beginning, visit the overview of all 8 phases or read about Phase 1 and Phase 2 first.
EMDR processing is captured in Phases 3 through 7. This article explains each phase and shows how to use Teleo tools to support clients in session. Whether you're new to EMDR or looking for practical ways to integrate it into virtual work, you'll find concrete suggestions for each step.
During EMDR, it's common that clients won't journey through the phases in a neat sequence. A child might move through several phases in one session, circle back to resourcing, or need to close before full processing is complete. Teleo is built to support that kind of fluid, clinically responsive work.
This article covers:
Phase 3: Assessment
Phase 4: Desensitization
Phase 5: Installation
Phase 6: Body Scan
Phase 7: Closure
Phase 3: Assessment
Assessment is when the clinician and child identify the target memory together. The goal is to surface the key components that will anchor the processing work ahead:
A name to reference the memory
An image connected to the memory
The negative belief about self
The level of distress tied to the memory
The emotions present
The body sensations being felt
A positive belief to replace the negative one
The current strength of that positive belief
For kids, identifying these components can feel abstract or overwhelming without the right structure. Teleo's shared visual space and EMDR resources help make exploring them feel concrete and manageable.
How to use Teleo for Phase 3:
The primary tool for this phase is My Memory Snapshot, a Teleo-created worksheet designed to capture all the key components of the target memory in one place. Visual cues and prompts help make the work tangible. You and your client move through each section together, and the client can communicate in whatever way works best for them ā drawing, writing, or talking it through. This flexibility provides more containment for kids who struggle to find words or who can become overwhelmed by the verbalization process. Because Teleo is interactive, you can step in and add to the worksheet alongside your client in real time.
Other Teleo tools that can support this phase:
Where Do I Feel?āhelps kids locate physical sensations in their body
Emotion Chartāhelps kids find emotional words that resonate
Emotion Thermometersāprovides a visual anchor for tracking distress intensity
ā Quick Tip
Before moving into Phase 4, save the completed My Memory Snapshot to the client record and share it to their Client Album.
The Client Album lets you revisit and build on saved work across sessions so that the first Snapshot becomes a reference point you can return to throughout Phase 4 or in future sessions if processing continues.
Phase 4: Desensitization
Desensitization is the phase where bilateral stimulation (BLS) is introduced and the child begins processing the distressing memory. It's the heart of EMDR, and it's often the phase clinicians wonder how to offer in a virtual setting.
Teleo offers Teleo BLS, a bilateral stimulation tool with flexible controls that keeps everything in one place. The moving dot and bilateral sound are right there in the session roomāno switching tabs, no external apps or additional subscriptions, and no interrupting the clinical flow.
How to use Teleo for Phase 4:
Click the approach filter in the Activity Bank, select "EMDR", and add Teleo BLS to any room.
Open Teleo BLS directly within the session room.
The client sees the BLS tool in full view; the clinician has a separate control panel to adapt the tool in real time.
Customize the visual, sound, and speed settings to match your client's needs.
Track time, passes, and sets automaticallyāpause or stop at any time.
If the child becomes dysregulated mid-set, resourcing tools are one click away.
After checking in on SUDS or pausing to help a client return to their window of tolerance, it's a simple click to begin processing again.
š” Pro Tip
Desensitization doesn't always go in one direction. Kids may loop, stall, or get activated unexpectedly. Two easy ways to respond:
Switch direction or sound. Teleo BLS offers left to right, diagonal left, diagonal right, and infinite loop, plus a variety of sound options. A simple change can be enough to move a client from stuck to processing.
Pivot to the room. Resourcing tools are one click away. Once the child is back in their window of tolerance, pick up right where you left off.
Phase 5: Installation
Installation is about helping the child replace an old, painful belief with something truer.
"It was my fault" becomes "I am safe now."
"Something bad happened to me" becomes "I got through it."
This phase benefits from visual reinforcement. When a child can see their positive belief, return to it across sessions, and watch it grow in believability over time, it becomes something they carry with them.
How to use Teleo for Phase 5:
Follow this sequence:
Create something visual. Use an art-based activityāsuch as the Whiteboard, or a worksheet like My Thoughtsāto have the child represent their positive belief externally and connect to other moments this belief felt true. This is about taking words and making them feel owned and solidified for the client.
Save the work to the Client Album. This gives you access to it in future sessions as a reminder of what the child has already claimed as true.
Revisit it as a resource. In later sessions, reopen this saved work from the album to reconnect the child with their positive belief before or during processing.
Track progress. Reopen the My Memory Snapshot from the Client Album and have the child indicate how they'd rate their SUDS or VOC. Comparing this to their original rating creates a visible record of progressāand a powerful clinical moment.
Phase 6: Body Scan
The body scan is a check-in after clients' SUDS is at the lowest and VOC is at its strongest. The clinician guides the child to notice whether any residual tension or distress is still present in the body. If something remains, you return to desensitization. If the body feels clear, you're ready for closure. For kids, this phase usually needs something concrete to make it land.
How to use Teleo for Phase 6:
Start with this sequence:
Ask the child where they feel anything remaining in their body
If distress is present, return to the Teleo BLS and process what came up
Recheck and repeat processing until the body feels clear
When there's no noted distress in the body, move to Phase 7
For the body scan step itself, choose the approach that fits the child:
Hands-on and visualāUse Teleo's Where Do I Feel? worksheet or Dr. Fried's Online Mind Body activity to have the child draw or mark where they notice sensation
Audio-supportedāUse one of many body scan videos that match your clients' development, such as Body Scanner (EMDR noticing), from the Activity Bank.
Offer a brief verbal setup: "We're going to use this guided activity to help check in with your body and notice if anything's still there."
Open-ended / expressiveāOpen the Whiteboard and invite the child to draw what they notice, with no specific prompts. This works well for kids who find structured activities limiting.
Phase 7: Closure
Every EMDR session ends with closure ā whether processing is complete or not. The goal is to help the child leave feeling grounded, calm, and regulated.
This is where your Phase 2 preparation pays off directly. The safe place, the container, the coping tools you built together ā all of it gets called back here.
How to use Teleo for Phase 7:
Here's one practical way to close a session:
Open the Client Album and let the child choose the resource they want to useātheir My Safe Place or My Container worksheets, or another calming tool they've created
Help the child reconnect with that image or resourceābring it to mind, sit with it, let it land
Return to Teleo BLS with slower stimuli, using the bilateral sound gently in the background to support settling
Close the session from that place of calm
The child's choice matters here. Some kids will reach for their safe place; others want to use their container to put unfinished things away before they leave. Following their lead helps closure feel like a natural ending rather than an abrupt stop.
š” Pro Tip
Incomplete processing is normal. If a child isn't at a SUDS of 0 by session end, the container exercise is your best tool for helping them set the material aside. Save a Snapshot to their Client Album so you can return to these images as part of Phase 8: reevaluation.
Phases 3ā7 ask clinicians to read the room, pivot quickly, and hold the clinical thread even when a session doesn't go as planned. Teleo won't do that work for you, but it removes enough of the logistical friction that your full attention can stay where it belongs: on the child in front of you.
š Next in this series: EMDR Phase 8: Reevaluation
Did you try these tips? Let us know how it went in the Teleo Clinician Community!
āš¼ Dee Keller, LPC, is a licensed therapist, Virginia Board-Approved Supervisor, and owner of Sunnyside Counseling, a hybrid therapy practice based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dee specializes in anxiety and perfectionism across girlhood, womanhood, and motherhood. She is dedicated to helping girls, teens, and women uncover their strengths, find balance, and step into their lives feeling more calm, present, and authentically themselves.
Learn more about Dee's work at sunnysidecville.com