EMDR Online Training for Therapists: Options and Costs

• You can complete an EMDRIA-approved EMDR basic training fully online, as long as you attend every live session with your camera on. Self-paced video courses don’t meet EMDRIA’s rules.
• Every approved training includes at least 20 hours of instruction, 20 hours of supervised practicum and 10 hours of consultation, finished within 12 months of your start date.
• As of September 2026, tuition at the live online providers below runs from $1,080 to $1,995. With consultation and books added, the full cost comes to roughly $1,300 to $2,100.

Therapists of all levels are eligible to take online EMDR basic training. EMDRIA sets the training standards, but the training provider you choose determines the price and schedule. When comparing programs, it’s important to consider the consultation component. You want to know if the 10 required consultation hours are part of the cost or require an additional outside fee.

It’s important to be aware that some EMDR courses that are advertised as “online EMDR certification” programs are not actually EMDRIA-approved. This means their hours don’t count toward EMDRIA training or certification. Like with any training, you should do your due diligence in advance.

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What EMDRIA-approved online training involves

EMDRIA applies the same policies to approved trainings online and in person.¹ The minimum is 50 hours: this breaks down to 20 hours of instructional material, 20 hours of supervised practicum, and 10 hours of consultation on your own client cases.²

Other EMDRIA rules for online training:

• Class size: a virtual training is capped at 100 trainees, with no more than 10 trainees per faculty member in practicum and consultation.
• Timeline: you have 12 months from your start date to finish. Consultation is limited to two hours a day, so the 10 hours take at least five separate days.
• Cost disclosure: trainers must state the full cost upfront, and if consultation isn’t included, give you an estimated range for it.

Finishing an approved basic training makes you technically qualified as an EMDR-trained clinician. However, having an EMDRIA membership and EMDR certification are separate steps.³ Your completion certificate comes from the provider and may be separate from your CE certificate.

Who can take EMDR basic training

EMDRIA’s eligibility rules cover three groups, and you send your documentation to the training provider.⁴

• Licensed clinicians: This category includes medical doctors, psychiatric mental health APRNs with an MSN or higher, and licensed master’s-level clinicians with respective degrees in counseling, marriage and family therapy, psychology, A substance abuse license on its own doesn’t qualify.
• Pre-licensed clinicians: This includes master’s-level clinicians working toward full licensure under a licensed supervisor.
• Graduate students: This includes students in a mental health master’s or doctoral program who have finished core coursework, are in their practicum or internship, and are on a licensing track under a fully licensed supervisor. First-year graduate students aren’t eligible. If this applies to you, you can expect to send a school transcript, practicum details, and a supervisor letter with their license number.

Providers can add conditions. Trauma Recovery/HAP, for example, also requires that you’re working in a clinical capacity.

EMDR online training providers compared

Prices are as of September 2026 and can change between cohorts.

EMDRIA-approved live online basic trainings

Online EMDR courses that are not EMDRIA-approved

EMDRIA-approved online training providers

All six providers below teach in live, scheduled online cohorts.

EMDR Institute

Francine Shapiro founded the EMDR Institute in 1990, and its trainers are EMDRIA-approved. US trainings run live online unless a listing says otherwise. A licensed clinician pays $1,425 for both weekends with the 5% discount. Consultation is extra: 5 hours before Weekend 2 and 5 after, with an Institute-approved consultant.⁵ Required books add $91, and you earn 20 CE credits per weekend after passing a quiz.

Altogether, a licensed clinician should budget roughly $1,800 to $2,000.

Trauma Recovery/HAP

Trauma Recovery/HAP is a nonprofit Shapiro founded in 1995 to offer low-cost EMDRIA-approved training to clinicians in public, nonprofit and underserved settings. Each $540 part includes 20 CEs.⁶ Consultation is paid directly to your consultant and earns no CEs. Even with those added consultation costs, this is the least expensive approved training on our list, at roughly $1,420 to $1,670 total. HAP also runs a scholarship fund for community mental health clinicians.

EMDR Consulting

EMDR Consulting, run by EMDRIA Approved Trainer Roy Kiessling, offers a 5-day virtual intensive that it says meets all of EMDRIA’s basic training requirements, with 20 hours of live teaching, 20 hours of live practice and 10 hours of group consultation in the fee.⁷ For the December 7 to 11, 2026 cohort, private practice clinicians pay $1,595, and nonprofit staff, students, interns, recent graduates and military or veterans pay $1,395. Early-bird prices $100 lower end October 5, 2026.

Institute for Creative Mindfulness

Jamie Marich’s Institute for Creative Mindfulness runs an EMDRIA-approved online “Deluxe” training for $1,995, payable in up to three installments, with all required consultation included. ICM plans to close its full-time operations on May 1, 2027, and the January to March 2027 cohort is the last Marich will teach under the ICM name. Keep that in mind before registering, since anyone who cancels may not be able to move into a future cohort.

Therapist Education Institute

Therapist Education Institute’s EMDRIA-approved online training costs $1,450 per cohort, including all 50 hours, with $100 off for early registration. It’s approved for 40 CEs, but those cost extra and the price isn’t published. Cohorts start monthly from October 2026 through summer 2027.

VIA EMDR

VIA EMDR’s 5-day live online EMDRIA-approved training runs January 11 to 15, 2027, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time. The $1,595 fee is described as all-inclusive and lists 40 CEs through NBCC, a training manual, supervised practice and a certificate of completion. It doesn’t list consultation among what’s included, so I’d confirm whether those 10 hours cost extra before registering.

Online EMDR courses that are not EMDRIA-approved

EMDRIA’s training FAQ names PESI directly: “Please be aware that PESI and The Bodymind Institute are NOT EMDR International Association Approved Training Providers.”³

PESI’s $1,599.99 12-Month Online EMDR Certification Course pairs on-demand modules with one mandatory live practice day and 10 hours of group consultation. PESI’s own page says the course isn’t affiliated with EMDRIA and doesn’t count toward EMDRIA credits or training.⁸

Instead, it leads to the Evergreen Certified EMDR Clinician (EMDR-C) credential. Evergreen is a certification body that doesn’t offer training, and every pre-approved training it lists is a PESI course. EMDR-C requires 42 CE hours, 6 of them clinical practice, plus 10 hours of consultation.⁹ To quickly compare, EMDRIA basic training requires 20 hours of supervised live practicum.

The Maiberger Institute in Colorado left EMDRIA in 2021 and now offers its own Certified EMDR Therapist credential. Its remote training runs 50 hours with five group consultations included, where you present at least four clients, but it doesn’t publish its price.

This distinction is important, especially if EMDRIA certification is your eventual goal.

Clinicians generally recommend pursuing EMDRIA-approved training over a cheap self-paced course. This is because the combined effect of live trainers with supervised practice and consultation builds the skill. Self-paced courses may be convenient, but they often lack the rigor needed to truly understand the depths of EMDR.

How to choose an online EMDR training

In therapist forums and social media pages, many clinicians agree that their online training matched how they deliver EMDR. However, others prefer in-person training for a more immersive experience.

If you’re leaning toward an online approach and if finances are a consideration, I’d compare the total price instead of the sticker price of tuition alone. The fees of books and consultation can really add up.

• On a tight budget: Trauma Recovery/HAP has the lowest tuition and is built for nonprofit and public-sector clinicians. If you qualify for EMDR Consulting’s $1,395 reduced rate, which includes consultation, it can cost less overall.
• Want consultation arranged for you: EMDR Consulting, Therapist Education Institute and the Institute for Creative Mindfulness include all 10 hours.
• Can’t take a full week off: EMDR Institute’s two weekends and HAP’s two 3-day parts spread the training out, within the 12-month limit.
• Want it done as efficiently as possible: the 5-day intensives from EMDR Consulting and VIA EMDR cover instruction and practicum in one week.
• Planning to certify later: choose an EMDRIA-approved training, because EMDRIA certification requires one.

Keep in mind that approved trainers must publish their cancellation and refund policy before registration, so read it before you pay.

EMDR certification after basic training

Basic training lets you join EMDRIA as a Full Member and start working toward certification, which is a separate credential.10. To apply, you need:

• A current license to practice independently and at least two years of experience in your licensed field
• At least 50 EMDR sessions with at least 25 clients, in a notarized statement
• 20 hours of consultation with an EMDRIA Approved Consultant after basic training, at least 10 of them individual
• A consultant recommendation letter and two peer letters
• 12 hours of EMDRIA Credits earned after basic training, which itself earns none

The nonrefundable application fee is $150 for Full Members and $350 for non-members, and approval typically takes 3 to 5 weeks. Certification renews every two years with 12 more EMDRIA Credits, and membership, which is what lists you in EMDRIA’s Find an EMDR Therapist directory, renews yearly.

You don’t need formal certification to start facilitating EMDR. You do, however, need to ensure you are practicing within your scope. Certification may become necessary if EMDR moves into a more focal point of your practice or you start working with more advanced, complex cases.

Facilitating online EMDR once you’re trained

EMDRIA’s guidelines for virtual EMDR therapy say it must be delivered by a clinician with EMDRIA-approved training. If this is you, you may also benefit from additional training in telehealth best practices.¹⁰ For the client side, see our guide to how EMDR online works and who it’s right for and our EMDR therapy overview.

If you’re providing virtual EMDR, online tools can make bilateral stimulation easier to manage. For example, the Virtual EMDR’s Therapist Program has a remote eye movement tool that provides a custom link for each session and works with any video platform. You can list your practice in its free directory.

As of September 2026, it costs $79 for one month, $299 for six months or $499 for a year, each with a free 3-day trial.¹¹ If you don’t cancel within 3 days, you’re billed the full plan price, and refunds after that are at the company’s discretion.¹²

This isn’t an EMDR training program. It’s a tool for therapists who are already trained. Its terms also say the company isn’t endorsed by or affiliated with any professional EMDR organization.¹²

Start a free 3-day trial of Virtual EMDR’s Therapist Program

Virtual EMDR also sells a self-guided program to the public. This is separate from the therapist’s program, and it’s important to distinguish the two. EMDRIA’s virtual therapy guidelines state that “Self-administration of EMDR therapy is strictly forbidden in EMDRIA Policy.”¹⁰ For another technology-assisted trauma approach, see our guide to virtual reality exposure therapy.