Why EMDR Therapists Have Long Waitlists

EMDR therapists have long waitlists because two shortages compound. The US already has too few therapists for the demand, and EMDR requires separate training beyond a therapist’s license: at least 50 hours minimum, often years more for full certification. That smaller, slower-growing pool serves a fast-growing group of people asking for EMDR by name.

You searched, found someone who offers EMDR, and the first opening is two months out. Or there’s no opening at all, just a form that says they’re not accepting new clients. That’s not bad luck specific to your zip code. It’s what happens when an ordinary therapist shortage gets an extra, EMDR-specific bottleneck stacked on top of it.

How common are therapist waitlists right now?

Even without EMDR in the picture, finding any therapist with an open slot is hard. In a fall 2022 survey of licensed psychologists reported in APA’s Monitor on Psychology, 38% carried a waitlist, and the average psychologist fielded calls from 15.7 prospective new patients every month. That’s the baseline, before anyone asks specifically about EMDR.

The supply problem runs deeper than one survey. HRSA, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, designates entire counties and regions as Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas wherever the population-to-provider ratio can’t meet demand. EMDR-trained clinicians are drawn from that same stretched workforce, not a separate one.

Why does EMDR add its own bottleneck?

A therapist can’t offer EMDR the day they get licensed. EMDRIA, the field’s professional association, sets Basic Training at a minimum of 50 hours: 20 of instruction, 20 of supervised practicum, and 10 of consultation, usually completed within a year.

That’s on top of the graduate degree and license the therapist already holds. It’s a real cost in time and tuition, with no guarantee of a caseload waiting on the other side. It’s also a big part of why EMDR costs more than typical therapy.

Many go further and pursue full EMDRIA Certification, which is voluntary but common among specialists. That adds at least 50 logged EMDR sessions across a minimum of 25 clients, 20 more hours of consultation, and two years of post-licensure clinical experience. Each step takes real time to accumulate, one client at a time. It’s a slow, deliberate pipeline feeding into an already-thin therapist workforce, not a quick add-on credential.

Is demand for EMDR itself rising?

It looks that way, on top of the general shortage. EMDR is one of only a few therapies recommended in the VA/DoD’s 2023 clinical practice guideline for PTSD, alongside cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure. That guideline shapes referral patterns well beyond veteran care.

EMDR has also become a familiar term outside clinical settings, from trauma-informed workplaces to social media. More first calls to a therapist’s office now name it directly, instead of asking for general talk therapy.

None of that adds capacity. It just adds names to the same list.

What can you do if every EMDR therapist near you is full?

A few tactics help right away:

• Call more than one office, and ask to be added to a cancellation list. Plenty of first openings come from someone else rescheduling. What to do while stuck on a therapy waitlist goes deeper on this.
• Ask specifically about telehealth. It widens your options past driving distance, and it’s often the faster opening.
• Consider starting with any trauma-informed therapist now, EMDR-trained or not, rather than waiting months for a specialist before beginning any care. How to find an EMDR therapist covers where to search, including training clinics that see clients at reduced rates.
• If no one nearby is taking new clients at all, your options when no therapist is accepting new patients covers the wider search from there.

None of that shortens the line for the work only a therapist can do. But the everyday stress of the wait itself, a tense day, a mind that won’t quiet at night, is something you can work with now. Bilateral stimulation, the left-right rhythm EMDR is built on, is simple enough to try today.

EmEase, a self-guided EMDR app, guides it with a moving on-screen target or alternating tones at app.emease.com, for $14.99/month or $69.99/year after a 7-day free trial. It’s a wellness practice for everyday stress, not therapy, and not a way to process whatever put you on the waitlist in the first place.

The system that trains EMDR therapists is deliberately slow, and demand for EMDR by name appears to be growing faster than that system can add trained clinicians. That’s not a reflection on you or your area. Being persistent about the search, and having something real to do with the wait, both move you forward while it plays out.