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Decolonizing EMDR: Centering Client Voice and Choice in Trauma Healing

Traditional trauma therapy has long focused on the individual—how a person processes and stores distressing experiences in the brain. But what happens when trauma is not just personal, but systemic? What if the distress a client carries isn’t just from isolated incidents but from generations of harm, ongoing discrimination, and structural oppression?


For many clients, especially those from marginalized communities, trauma isn’t just an event—it’s a lived reality, woven into their daily experiences. Yet, traditional therapy models often treat distress as something that happens to a person, rather than something that happens within a larger system.


A woman with curly hair sits in deep thought, resting her hands against her face with her eyes closed, evoking a sense of reflection and emotional processing.

This is why EMDR needs to evolve. While it’s a powerful tool for trauma healing, its traditional framework doesn’t always account for systemic oppression or intergenerational trauma. Jasmine Adams, LCSW, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, has seen this firsthand.


"My personal experience in oppressive situations and also from my work with therapy participants who have experienced oppressions and learning ways to best support them," Adams explains. Her work challenges therapists to rethink how EMDR can be applied through an anti-oppression lens—one that truly meets clients where they are.


This discussion aligns with the growing recognition of identity-informed care in mental health treatment. Just as culturally responsive perinatal mental health care leads to better client engagement and outcomes (Ammerman et al., 2022), EMDR must also evolve to meet the needs of those impacted by oppression-based trauma. Without an anti-oppression framework, therapy risks reinforcing the very systems that perpetuate harm.



Why EMDR Needs an Anti-Oppression Lens


A supportive hand rests gently on a person's shoulder, symbolizing empathy, connection, and care in the context of healing and interpersonal support.

EMDR is widely recognized as one of the most effective treatments for trauma, helping clients reprocess distressing memories and shift negative self-beliefs. However, EMDR was developed within a Western clinical model that does not always consider the complexities of systemic oppression, intergenerational trauma, and collective healing (Lipscomb & Ashley, 2021).


Adams emphasizes the importance of honoring a client’s autonomy throughout the process:

"Therapy participant voice and choice; always."

At its core, decolonizing EMDR means recognizing that clients are the experts in their own healing. Trauma does not exist in a vacuum—neither should the solutions we offer.



Standard EMDR Assumptions That Need Reexamining


  • Trauma Is an Isolated Event → Many marginalized clients experience trauma not as a single event but as a cumulative, lifelong reality of discrimination, exclusion, and violence (Menakem, 2017).

  • Healing Happens in Safety → The standard EMDR protocol assumes clients can access a sense of safety in order to engage in processing. But what if safety has never been a reality for them? (Mullan, 2024).

  • Individual Change Is the Goal → Traditional therapy tends to focus on personal resilience rather than addressing the broader systems that perpetuate harm. Healing is not just about adapting to oppression but dismantling the beliefs that sustain it (Society for Psychotherapy, 2024).



The Limits of Traditional EMDR for Oppression-Based Trauma


EMDR focuses on desensitizing distressing memories by helping clients process traumatic experiences in a way that reduces their emotional charge. But for clients who experience racial trauma, gender-based oppression, ableism, or other systemic violence, the source of distress is often ongoing. Processing memories of past discrimination does not eliminate the reality of daily microaggressions or institutional bias.

For example, a Black client working through experiences of racial trauma may still encounter daily reminders of systemic racism in workplaces, healthcare settings, or public spaces. Traditional EMDR may help them process past events, but without an anti-oppression framework, therapy can feel incomplete.

Watch below for a discussion with Jasmine on how systemic trauma shapes EMDR therapy, and why a decolonized approach is necessary.




smine’s insights highlight the reality that trauma is not only a personal experience—it is shaped by historical and structural oppression. If therapy does not account for this, it risks reinforcing the same systemic harm that clients have endured.


This understanding lays the groundwork for shifting EMDR beyond its traditional framework. Decolonizing EMDR does not mean discarding its structure—it means adapting it to acknowledge systemic oppression and intergenerational trauma.



What Does Decolonizing EMDR Look Like?


Decolonizing EMDR means creating space for client agency, cultural context, and systemic awareness. It requires flexibility, creativity, and a willingness to unlearn traditional assumptions.

A woman sits at a table painting with watercolors, focusing intently on her creative process, symbolizing healing through expressive and artistic practices.

1. Expanding the History-Taking Process

  • Allows for non-linear storytelling rather than assuming trauma follows a structured timeline.

  • Uses alternative ways to access memories such as expressive arts, somatic awareness, or free association.

  • Acknowledges the impact of systemic oppression in shaping trauma responses and self-beliefs.


2. Rethinking the "Safe Place" Exercise

  • Reframes "safe place" as an "empowered place" for those who have never known true safety.

  • Incorporates cultural and ancestral grounding rather than relying on generic relaxation imagery.

  • Validates when safety is not accessible and focuses instead on internal regulation strategies.


3. Recognizing the Role of Structural Oppression in Trauma

  • Names oppression rather than treating it as an individual distortion.

  • Expands reprocessing beyond single-event targeting.

  • Honors anger and resistance as valid, adaptive responses.


4. Adjusting the Reprocessing Process for Complex Trauma

For clients with systemic and intergenerational trauma, traditional EMDR targeting may not be effective. Instead, therapists can:

  • Use thematic processing to address patterns of oppression rather than isolated incidents.

  • Slow down and integrate titration to avoid emotional flooding.

  • Offer somatic and creative processing (e.g., movement, drumming, or bilateral tapping) to make EMDR more accessible.



A Space for Growth and Connection


Jasmine’s training takes a community-centered approach to anti-oppressive EMDR, creating space for therapists to engage in reflective conversations and collaborative learning. She emphasizes the importance of building community as a foundation for anti-oppression work.


“One of the foundations of anti-oppression work is making community, right? Because systems intentionally try to divide so that people feel disempowered and alone in their struggle,” Adams explains.

Her course invites participants to reflect deeply, connect with colleagues, and build shared practices for more equitable care.


Participants are encouraged to come prepared to engage with others and to bring expressive arts materials—such as paints, collaging supplies, or poetry tools—to explore alternative ways of processing trauma. “Talking is one way of processing things—it’s not the only way. If talking is the only way, we’re closing the gap on other ways to connect for people,” she says.



Bringing This Work Into Your Practice


Therapists must be willing to move beyond a standardized model and into a collaborative, culturally attuned process. That means continually learning, unlearning, and deepening our understanding of systemic trauma and its impact on healing.


For those ready to apply these concepts in practice, Jasmine Adams, LCSW offers a specialized training that provides practical strategies for decolonizing EMDR.


A focused individual wearing headphones and a yellow shirt studies at a wooden table in a bright, modern space, writing notes in an open book.


EMDR Through an Anti-Oppression Lens

🗓️ February 23-24, 2025

Cultivate a culturally humble, anti-oppressive approach in your EMDR work to better serve diverse communities.







In this interactive training, Jasmine shares tangible ways to adapt EMDR to better serve BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized clients. You’ll explore:

  • How to integrate decolonizing practices into each phase of EMDR.

  • The role of intergenerational and systemic trauma in treatment.

  • Practical strategies to tailor EMDR for clients experiencing oppression-based trauma.


Decolonization Is an Ongoing Process


Decolonizing EMDR is not about "fixing" clients—it is about honoring the complexity of their experiences, expanding the tools we use, and holding space for the impact of oppression-based trauma. Healing is not just about surviving trauma—it is about reclaiming power.


If you are ready to challenge conventional EMDR frameworks and create truly transformative healing spaces, let’s do this work together.


 

References


Lipscomb, A. E., & Ashley, W. (2021). Culturally responsive EMDR therapy: Addressing racial trauma and oppression in clinical practiceJournal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice, 7(1), Article 4.


Menakem, R. (2017). My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. Central Recovery Press.


Mullan, J. (2024). Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma, and the Path to Healing. Decolonizing Therapy Press.


Society for Psychotherapy. (2024). A call to action: Decolonizing clinical practice. Retrieved from https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/a-call-to-action-decolonizing-clinical-practice/


Ammerman, R. T., Putnam, F. W., Altaye, M., Stevens, J., Teeters, A. R., & Van Ginkel, J. B. (2022). Culturally informed interventions for perinatal depression: A randomized controlled trialJournal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 90(2), 123–136.

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