Trauma Healing Through Visual Journaling: An Expressive Arts Approach to EMDR
This is a LIVE, interactive workshop taking place on Zoom (December 19th, 2025 - 9:00 am-4:30 pm ET)
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.
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:
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.
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.
For more information about continue education please email at [email protected]
Workshop: Power Point Presentation
Article: Writing Technique Across Psychotherapies
Article: A Visual Conversation With Trauma
Article: Efficacy of journaling
Article: Self-Reflexivity Through Journaling
Completing the Course Evaluation and Receiving Your CE Certificate