Integrating Visual Journaling in Trauma Therapy: Enhancing Trauma Healing Through Expressive Arts.

Description:

There are times when words just aren’t enough. Clients often carry experiences that are felt more than spoken, and this is where visual journaling can open a new door. By inviting images, colors, textures, and symbols onto the page, we give clients another way to express, release, and connect with their healing process.

In this experiential training, EMDR clinicians will learn how to bring visual journaling into the therapy room as a companion to EMDR treatment. We’ll explore both the emotional and psychological benefits of journaling through art, looking at theory, research, and case examples that highlight how it can support trauma recovery.

Throughout the day, participants will try out different approaches—collage, mandalas, free drawing, and poetry—while reflecting on how each method can be integrated into different phases of EMDR. We’ll connect these practices directly to the 8 Phases of EMDR Therapy and the 3-Prong Protocol (past, present, future) so you leave with ideas you can apply right away.

By the end of the workshop, you’ll walk away with your own plan for how to integrate visual journaling into your clinical practice. You’ll also leave with concrete strategies for setting up the space, selecting art supplies, and pacing interventions in ways that encourage stabilization, self-regulation, and safety for your clients.

This training provides an introduction to the core principles of visual journaling as an intervention within the intermodal expressive arts therapy approach. Participants will explore the therapeutic value of combining writing, mixed media, imagery in visual journaling, and how to incorporate this method within a trauma-focused framework.






Course Objectives

This training provides an introduction to the core principles of visual journaling as an intervention within the intermodal expressive arts therapy approach. Participants will explore the therapeutic value of combining writing, mixed media, music, bilateral movement, imagery in visual journaling, and how to incorporate this method within a trauma-focused framework. Special attention will be given to how visual journaling can be safely integrated into trauma-focused work, always honoring the client’s pace and choice. Together, we’ll review current practices, learn from case examples, and, most importantly practice the techniques ourselves so you can experience their impact before bringing them into your own sessions.


Learning Objectives:


By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

  1. Explain the practice of visual journaling and its therapeutic benefits for trauma treatment. 
  2. Identify the benefits of different art materials and mixed media in trauma work. 
  3. Incorporate visual journaling into the 8 Phases of EMDR Therapy. 
  4. Explore and apply visual journaling techniques in trauma therapy.
  5. List practical strategies for integrating visual journaling into EMDR Therapy. 
  6. Apply trauma-informed considerations when facilitating visual journaling.
  7. Develop a personalized plan for clinical integration.

Instructor(s)

Irene Rodriguez, LMHC, REAT

EMDRIA-Approved Trainer

Irene M. Rodriguez is a bilingual EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Trainer and Consultant, Registered Expressive Arts Therapist, and trauma specialist with over fifteen years of experience. She is the founder of Mindful Journey Center, where she offers EMDRIA-approved EMDR Therapy Training, available in English, Spanish, and bilingual formats, with an integrative focus on expressive arts, mindfulness, and parts work. She also is the Director of the Certificate of Expressive Arts Therapy that also include the Dancing Mindfulness Facilitator Training. Irene specializes in helping clinicians navigate complex trauma, dissociation, and attachment wounds. Her training and consultations are trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, and grounded in creative, body-based practices that support both client healing and therapist well-being. In addition to training therapists, Irene is a certified Laughter Yoga and Meditation Facilitator and Sound Healing Practitioner. She is a contributing author in EMDR Therapy and Creative Arts with Dr. Jamie Marich, and she regularly offers professional retreats in Puerto Rico that blend EMDR, expressive arts, and self-care. Irene is deeply committed to helping new EMDR therapists build confidence, deepen their clinical intuition, and bring embodied presence into their work.


By Registering for this Training, You Acknowledge and Agree to the Following:

  • Attendance: Your presence at the entire training is required at all sessions. No partial credit can be awarded.  

  • Technological Requirements: Attendance at all live sessions on the indicated dates is mandatory for completion of this course. Please plan on joining a few minutes early for troubleshooting if you are not already familiar with the platform. For more information on how to join a Zoom meeting, please read through the following article: https://www.howtogeek.com/662339/how-to-join-a-zoom-meeting/. By registering for these trainings, you acknowledge that you meet the technological requirements needed to participate. If you require technical assistance, you are required to reach out to your instructor at least one week prior to the start of training.

  • Refund/Cancellation Policy:  You have read and agree to Mindful Journey Center's  Organizational Policies, which stipulate the terms for refunds, cancellations, and resolving grievances and disputes.

  • Correspondence from Training Organization: Mindful Journey Center regularly sends correspondence about the training, including an email confirmation at registration and several emails leading up to each training. The emails presently come from [email protected]. Additionally, Mindful Journey Center  may send out emails from [email protected] . If you are not receiving these emails, you are required to check your spam folder as correspondence from new organizations often ends up there. Once you receive your first correspondence, please save the email to your address book. If you have not received a confirmation email or other correspondence from the organization within seven days of the event, it is your responsibility to reach out to us by email or phone.

  • Professionalism: You will show up on time and be fully present for each session, acting in a professional manner. You will reach out to your faculty member or any assistant if any unexpected problems arise. Staying present for online learning can come with its unique set of challenges, and you agree to take full responsibility for addressing your needs in the area of grounding and self-care during the training. You agree to refrain from all alcohol and illicit drug use during the training and agree to speak with your faculty member or an assistant if you anticipate that your impairment due to prescribed medications might pose a problem during the training. The faculty and staff reserve the right to remove trainees at any time if the trainee creates an unsafe or unprofessional environment for you or for other trainees, or for any other reason, at their sole discretion.

  • Accommodations:  Mindful Journey Center follows the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We ask that if you are in need of any special accommodations that will allow you to take your training with us online, please at [email protected]  with any special requests thirty days before the scheduled training. If, during the training, a need for an accommodation arises, you are expected to contact your instructor and/or practicum assistant immediately and we will discuss the best possible solution.

  • Preparedness for Doing Your Own Work: If you have received a major mental health diagnosis (past or present), you acknowledge that you are taking this training at your own risk, and agree to alert faculty or training staff before or during the training if any complications arise. If any problems arise, you agree to address them with faculty or staff members.

Email [email protected] with any questions or concerns. After registering for this course you will receive an email from Thinkific, which will ask you to complete your registration and give you access to the course portal. 

Continuing Education



This course will offer 6 credits hours toward the Certificate of Expressive Arts Therapy with Mindful Journey Center.

For more information about continue education please email at [email protected]


This hands-on workshop will teach you how to integrate the healing combination of writing and imagery within a multi-modal expressive arts framework.

Course curriculum

    1. Workshop: Power Point Presentation

    2. Article: Writing Technique Across Psychotherapies

    3. Article: A Visual Conversation With Trauma

    4. Article: Efficacy of journaling

    5. Article: Self-Reflexivity Through Journaling

    1. Completing the Course Evaluation and Receiving Your CE Certificate

About this course

  • $150.00
  • 12 lessons
  • 0 hours of video content