EMDR Basic Training in Costa Rica

San Joaquín de Flores, Costa Rica | January 27 – February 17, 2027

Complete your EMDR Basic Training through a small-group experience, capped at 20 clinicians to keep things intimate, that combines live virtual instruction, four full in-person training days in Costa Rica, hands-on practice with other clinicians, and 10 hours of follow-up consultation. Lodging and training take place at Casa Tropical and CPI.

Training Details at a Glance

Live virtual sessions

Wed, Jan 27 & Wed, Feb 17, 8:00 AM–12:00 PM MT

In-person training

Feb 1, 2, 4 & 5, Costa Rica

Training hours

40 total (8 virtual + 32 in Costa Rica), plus 10 consultation hours afterward

Group size

Limited to 20 clinicians

Excursion day

Feb 3

Arrive / Depart

Arrive Jan 31 / Depart Feb 6

Travel

Airport transportation to and from lodging is included. Flights to and from Costa Rica are not. Plan your own travel to arrive by Jan 31.

Registration & Fees

Fees range from $2,800–$4,000 depending on your accommodation choice, with a 5% discount available for groups of friends registering together.

What's Included
in Your Package

  • Lodging, January 31 – February 6

  • Airport transportation to and from lodging

  • Breakfast and lunch, February 1–5

  • Breakfast, February 6

  • Snacks during training days

  • Wednesday excursion (see below)

  • EMDR Basic Training instruction

  • 10 hours of follow-up consultation

Not included: Flights to and from Costa Rica.

Have accommodation requests or dietary needs? Email Kelly Klene at Kelly@CairnCounselingDenver.com with the accommodations you'll need. Reach out as early as possible so we can coordinate for virtual instruction, training facilities, lodging, and transportation.

Your Wednesday Excursion

Training pauses on Wednesday for an included excursion: La Paz Waterfall, a Costa Rican animal sanctuary, and a coffee farm tour and tasting. This day is part of your package and isn't counted as instructional time.

Choose Your Package

Prices below are the full event package, based on room and bed configuration. Coming with a friend? Ask about our 5% group discount, a shareable code goes to one member of your group.

Full bunk bed, reserved for you

$2,800

Single bed in a shared room

$3,200

Double bed + bunk bed room

$3,200

Double bed + single bed room

$3,300

Double bed + double bed room

$3,300

Private room, no roommate

$4,000

All configurations except Private Room are shared with another attendee. The specific bed you're assigned within a shared room is confirmed at booking.

Training Details

This EMDR Basic Training builds foundational knowledge and clinical skill for the responsible use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy. Through instruction, demonstration, experiential practice, and structured clinical application, you'll build skill in EMDR case conceptualization, preparation, assessment, reprocessing, and the full eight-phase treatment model.

By the end of training, you'll be able to:

  • Describe the three-prong protocol

  • Describe what the future template is and when to use it

  • Identify what happens in each phase of EMDR

  • Describe why to use the safe/calm place

  • Identify an effective negative cognition

  • Recall how to begin each phase of EMDR

  • Identify the three themes for interweaves

  • Identify how to manage stuckness in EMDR sessions

  • Identify who is a good candidate for EMDR

  • Describe the adaptive information processing model

  • Use the adaptive information processing model to conceptualize clients

  • Describe the physiological effect of trauma

  • Describe EMDR mechanisms of action

  • Describe the nuances of working with selected populations

Who this is for:

This course supports the ongoing education of licensed clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, and licensed marriage and family therapists. Pre-licensed clinicians under supervision and interns providing mental health care may also take this course per EMDRIA guidelines. Content level: Beginning.

Prerequisites:

Per EMDRIA eligibility requirements, qualifying trainees include licensed mental health professionals (with a master's degree or higher in a mental health field and a license to practice), pre-licensed mental health professionals actively pursuing licensure while working under a licensed supervisor, and graduate students who have completed their core coursework and are in their practicum or internship (first-year graduate students are not eligible). Individuals who only hold a chemical dependency or substance abuse license are not eligible. Graduate students will need to submit a transcript, practicum/internship details, and a supervisor letter to verify eligibility.

Your Presenters:

Kelly Klene is the owner of Cairn Counseling and an EMDRIA-approved Certified Therapist and Consultant. Kelly has a passion for working with clients who have experienced trauma, across all ages from young children to older adults, drawing on EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused brief therapy, trauma-focused CBT, narrative therapy, internal family systems therapy, and play therapy.

Barbara Sheehan-Zeidler, MA (She/Her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor and owner of Creative and Caring Counseling in Littleton, Colorado. She is an EMDR Trainer, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, and Certified EMDR Therapist, also trained in Internal Family Systems, IFS Somatic Integration, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Polyvagal Theory, Sandplay, and Natural Processing. Barbara brings a relational, collaborative approach to her teaching and regularly presents at local and international conferences.

Continuing Education

CE hours: 50 CEs for LPCs, 40 CEs for LCSWs. These match the standard figures used for this training generally, so they hold regardless of the exact hour breakdown.

Only qualifying instructional time counts toward CE credit. The Costa Rica excursion, meals, and other noninstructional activities are excluded.

ASWB ACE: Cairn Counseling PLLC, provider number 2117, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards remain the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 10/24/2024–10/24/2028

NBCC ACEP: Cairn Counseling has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7640. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Cairn Counseling is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

To receive CE credit and a certificate of completion: attend the full training, complete the post-test (60% passing, unlimited retests) and instructor evaluation, and complete the required reading and program evaluation. The post-test and evaluation are completed during the Feb 17 virtual class. Attendance is verified. Certificates are issued to the email used to register, after consultation hours are complete.

Required reading:

  1. Shapiro, Francine. (2018). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, Third Edition: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. New York: Guildford Press

  2. The Go With That Magazine Special Issue on EMDR and Racial Trauma: https://www.emdria.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/GWT.2020.Vol_.25.Issue_.3.RacialTrauma.ALL_.pdf

  3. Guidelines for Virtual EMDR Therapy: https://www.emdria.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/virtual_tg_report_for_member.pdf

(CE credit is not awarded for time spent completing required reading.)

Register

 FAQs

  • Flights to and from Costa Rica as well as evening meals. You'll book your own travel to arrive at SJO (San José) by January 31 and can depart February 6.

  • Yes, with advance notice. Let us know your needs when you register.

  • Cancel more than one month before the training start date for a full refund. Cancellations within one month of the start date are eligible for a 50% refund. If you don't attend without notice, no refund is issued.

  • Email Kelly Klene at Kelly@CairnCounselingDenver.com with the accommodations you'll need. Reach out as early as possible so we can coordinate for virtual instruction, training facilities, lodging, and transportation.

  • Kelly Klene at Kelly@CairnCounselingDenver.com or EMDR@CairnCounselingDenver.com. For formal grievances, email Grievance@CairnCounselingDenver.com.