EMDR Consultant Training Program
The EMDR Consultant Training Program is a structured 10-month consultation of consultation program for EMDRIA Certified Therapists who are ready to begin working toward the EMDRIA Approved Consultant credential. Led by Dr. Pria Alpern, PhD, EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Trainer.
The transition
There is a fundamental shift that happens when you move from EMDR clinician to consultant.
As a clinician, your focus is the client in the room. As a consultant, your focus becomes the clinician in front of you. You are learning to teach, motivate, and evaluate. You are developing the capacity to hold another professional's growth with the same attunement and intentionality you bring to your clinical work.
The 2026 EMDRIA Approved Consultant Standards are the most rigorous and well-defined the field has seen. They emphasize deliberate practice, reflective supervision, cultural humility, and competency-based evaluation. They describe the consultant as simultaneously an educator, a motivator, and an evaluator.
Getting there requires structure, mentorship, and a framework for developing your identity as a consultant.
That is what the EMDR Consultant Training Program was built to provide.
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What the program is
The EMDR Consultant Training Program is a small, intensive 10-month consultation of consultation program offered through Manhattan Center for Trauma Studies. Two Consultants in Training work with Dr. Pria Alpern across ten months, receiving all 20 required consultation of consultation hours while building an active consultation practice with a built-in consultee group.
The program is aligned with the 2026 EMDRIA Approved Consultant Standards and structured around a developmental framework that systematically addresses all EMDRIA core competency domains across the ten-month arc.
What's included
Once a month, you meet 1:1 with Dr. Alpern for individual consultation of consultation. You bring material from your consultee group sessions (recordings, summaries, reflections) and receive direct feedback on your consultation skills, clinical judgment, and professional development as a consultant. These sessions generate 10 individual consultation of consultation hours, meeting the mandatory individual requirement.
Once a month, both CITs meet together with Dr. Alpern for 60 minutes of group consultation of consultation. These sessions generate peer learning between CITs and address shared challenges, group dynamics, ethical considerations, and consultation process questions. These sessions generate 10 group consultation of consultation hours.Total: 20 hours (10 individual + 10 group)
You will be assigned a group of four EMDR Certification Pathway participants to consult with monthly. These are post-basic-training clinicians actively working toward EMDRIA certification. This built-in consultee group means you begin your consultation practice immediately, without having to recruit consultees independently. You lead monthly 2-hour group consultation sessions on Fridays, 12:00–2:00pm ET.
Consultation of consultation sessions are guided by a structured monthly thematic arc covering EMDRIA core competency domains, including foundational EMDR knowledge as a consultant, teaching skills, the Educator/Motivator/Evaluator roles, cultural humility and ethics, adapting EMDR therapy, group consultation facilitation, and professional identity as a consultant.
Upon successful completion of the program, Dr. Alpern will complete and submit the EMDRIA CIT Verification, Evaluation, and Recommendation (VER) Form to EMDRIA on your behalf. This is the required evaluation document for the EMDRIA Approved Consultant credential application.
Your tuition includes MCTS membership active from January 2027 through January 2028 — giving you access to the MCTS CE library (including EMDRIA-approved courses toward your 12 required CE credits), the resource library, monthly trauma study groups, case consultation, private therapist community, therapist directory listing, and the MCTS mobile app.
A limited scholarship is available at $1,500 for CITs who assist at one MCTS EMDR Basic Training during the program year (July/Sept 2027). Scholarship recipients provide practicum facilitation and group consultation support across both Part 1 and Part 2 training weekends — approximately 30 hours of work. In addition to the full program benefits, scholarship recipients have their consultee requirement fully met through the program and Basic Training assistance combined. Contact us to inquire about scholarship availability.
Who this is for
EMDRIA Approved Consultant requirements
The EMDRIA Approved Consultant credential requires:
| Requirement | Who provides it |
|---|---|
| 1. Current EMDRIA Certified Therapist credential | You bring this |
| 2. Submitted CIT Declaration Form | You bring this |
| 3. 300 EMDR sessions with 75 clients | You bring this |
| 4. 15 consultation hours provided to 5+ consultees | Program supports this |
| 5. 20 consultation of consultation hours (10 individual + 10 group) | Provided in full |
| 6. 12 EMDRIA CE credits including 2 required consultant courses | Membership supports this |
| 7. 1 year post CIT Declaration date before applying | Plan your timeline |
| 8. VER Form submitted by approved consultant | Dr. Alpern provides this |
This program directly fulfills requirements 4 (substantially), 5 (in full), and 8. Your MCTS membership supports requirement 6. You are responsible for meeting all other requirements independently.
The schedule
Once per month · Thursdays 10:00am ET. CIT 1 and CIT 2 have separate individual sessions on different Thursdays.
60 minutes · Once per month · Thursdays 11:15am–12:15pm ET. Both CITs together with Dr. Alpern.
2 hours · Once per month · Fridays 12:00–2:00pm ET. CIT 1 leads Group A (2nd Friday); CIT 2 leads Group B (4th Friday).
The developmental framework
Consultation of consultation sessions are driven by your consultation material and emerging questions as a developing consultant. The following thematic framework ensures all EMDRIA core competencies are addressed systematically across the program while remaining responsive to your individual development.
Scholarship Tuition: $1,500 — available for CITs who assist at one MCTS EMDR Basic Training. Contact info@manhattancenterfortraumastudies.com to inquire. Payment plans available on a case-by-case basis.
About
Dr. Pria Alpern, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York City specializing in trauma, PTSD, complex trauma, dissociation, and perinatal and reproductive trauma. She is an EMDRIA Certified Therapist, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, and EMDRIA Approved Trainer, and the founder of Manhattan Center for Trauma Studies and Center Psychology Group.
Dr. Alpern has trained hundreds of clinicians in EMDR therapy and has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, Vox, and Glamour UK. The EMDR Consultant Training Program reflects her deep commitment to the quality and integrity of EMDR consultation and to cultivating a new generation of skilled EMDR consultants.
Application process
Applications for the January 2027 cohort are reviewed on a rolling basis. This program accepts two participants per cohort.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited for a 45-minute virtual interview with Dr. Alpern.
FAQ
January 2027 Cohort · Two Spots
Applications for the January 2027 cohort open October 1, 2026. Two spots. Apply early.
Apply Now Questions? Email us at info@manhattancenterfortraumastudies.com