EMDR Therapy Training 2026
EMDR Therapy training designed to meet the needs of New Zealand’s mental health practitioners. This comprehensive training is aligned with the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and tailored to New Zealand’s unique culture and environment.
Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences endorsed in EMDR. (Two Years Part time)
Year One 2026 – PSME455 Foundations in EMDR Therapy (Also an EMDRNZ Accredited Basic Training).
PSME455 is a 30-point paper studied part-time over one year. It covers the internationally recognised EMDR Therapy Basic Training curriculum (Parts 1 & 2), with some expansion of the topics and with increased contact time for the lectures and practicums. Taught through flexible distance learning, the recorded live interactive lectures can be watched repeatedly as and when suits you. The PSME455 course will include online lectures plus two block courses of 2 and a half days each, held in Wellington. It will use a cyclical teaching approach with theory informing practice and practice informing theory. This is the only EMDR Therapy Basic Training in NZ which provides a credential that involves assessment of competency in evidence-based EMDR Therapy.
PSME455 paper information page
EMDR PSME 455 Block Course dates 2026 – Block One: 16-18 March 2026 & Block Two 27-29 July 2026
Year Two 2026 – PSME456: Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. Advanced EMDR Therapy
PSME 456 is is a 30-point paper studied part-time over one year. This is training in Advanced EMDR Therapy knowledge and skills. The course aims to equip EMDR practitioners in working with more complex presentations and issues. The course builds on PSME455 to cover real world complexities with a transdiagnostic approach to conceptualisation, treatment planning and therapy. Course topics include specialist training in working with Children and Adolescents, Disaster Response, Dissociative Disorders, Personality Disorders, Depression, Addictions, Attachment Trauma, Psychosis, Mood Disorders, Pain and Unexplained Medical Problems. You will be trained in additional tools and techniques that have an evidence base such as EMDR 2.0 and GTEP. This course is also designed to prepare you to apply for the Accredited Practitioner status in EMDR Therapy with EMDRNZ.
ELIGIBILITY for PSME456. PSME455 or completion of an EMDR Therapy Basic Training accredited by EMDRNZ are pre-requisites.
Note that the PSME 456 (year two) may only be provided every two years.
EMDR PSME 456 Block Course dates 2026 – Block One: 30, 31 March - 1 April 2026 & Block Two 10-12 Aug 2026.
Why study EMDR Therapy through Otago?
Our comprehensive EMDR Therapy training is designed to meet the needs of New Zealand’s mental health practitioners. It is aligned with the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and tailored to New Zealand’s unique culture and environment.
It has practical application and enable practitioners from a range of health disciplines to achieve more meaningful clinical outcomes for users of mental health services in our society.
The comprehensive training carries the strength of a university-accredited programme, including an assessed measure of competence through practical assignments, block course attendance and passing of an examination.
The course is both practical and applied, so participants develop skills that enable them to use EMDR Therapy in their workplace. Initially establishing a firm theoretical knowledge base, it shows how EMDR Therapy is used as a framework for assessing and gaining understanding of a patient’s psychological distress, and then formulating and implementing an intervention based on that conceptualisation.
Who is it taught by?
The Director of this Course is MaryAnn Stevens, a Senior Clinical Psychologist and EMDR Institute Trainer.
MaryAnn is assisted by a team of teachers and experienced Mental Health Clinicians from around Aotearoa, In 2025 this included; Dr Anna Clarkson (Clinical Psychologist, Nelson), Dr Erica Chadwick (Clinical Psychologist, Rotorua), Clive Banks (Clinical Psychologist, Porirua) Patrice Bourke (Clinical Psychologist) Allister Bush (Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Wellington) Dr Tom Flewett, a Wellington-based psychiatrist with 40 years of clinical and teaching expertise.
MaryAnn Stevens and all those who teach on this course use EMDR therapy widely in a wide range of settings and with a wide range of diagnoses, populations and cultural contexts. Having found EMDR Therapy to be so helpful for their patients, they are keen to train as many clinicians as possible to become skilled EMDR Therapists.
PSME 456 in 2026 will be taught by MaryAnn Stevens and Specialists in the relevant areas.
How is it taught?
The PSME455 and PSME 456 courses will include online lectures plus two block courses of 2 and a half days each, held in Wellington. It will use a cyclical teaching approach with theory informing practice and practice informing theory.
Taught through flexible distance learning, the recorded live interactive lectures can be watched repeatedly as and when suits you.
Students will be expected to complete 80 hours of EMDR therapy with clients by the end of the year. Each block course will be followed up with group supervision and consultation (total of 10 hours per year). Students are advised to also find themselves additional monthly EMDR Case Consultation with an EMDRNZ Accredited Case Consultant as this will enable them to add the individual supervision hours required to apply for Accreditation with EMDRNZ by the end of the year two.
Who can apply?
This course is open to mental health practitioners including:
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Psychotherapists
- Nurses
- Social Workers
- Occupational Therapists
- Counsellors
- Art Therapists
EMDR therapy is a complex, structured therapy. The training is intensive, and for acceptance into this programme you may be asked to provide a CV and transcripts of your relevant academic study.
What does it cost?
The 2026 course fees for PSME 455 are TBA. (previous years were $2,500) This covers all lectures, workbooks, block course and 10 hours of group supervision.
The 2026 course fees for PSME 456 are TBA. This covers all lectures, workbooks, block course and 10 hours of group supervision.
How to apply?
Applications for these 2 papers are open soon . Places are limited so If you are considering applying please contact emdr.uow@otago.ac.nz to express interest.
To apply to study PSME455 in 2026 or PSME 456 in 2026 , you will need to complete the following steps:
- Go to the Postgraduate Certificate of Proficiency (COP) qualifications page.
- In the "Ready to enrol?" box, choose 'Postgraduate Certificate of Proficiency (COP), Wellington, 2025'.
- Log in or create an account.
- Complete and submit your application. The University may contact you if further information is required.
- You will be made an offer of a place in the COP. You need to accept this to be able to select the paper.
- When you do accept, please email emdr.uow@otago.ac.nz for information on how to select the paper.
- Once you have selected the paper, the department will then handle any verification required.
- You will then be approved for the paper and will need to complete the usual university enrolment processes.
Contact details
Email emdr.uow@otago.ac.nz
EMDR Course Director
MaryAnn Stevens
Department of Psychological Medicine
University of Otago, Wellington