Phase 6: The body scan

A client says the memory feels neutral now, the positive belief feels true, the SUD is zero. And then you ask them to hold both in mind and scan their body — and they notice their jaw is clenched, or there's a weight in the chest that hadn't registered. Phase 6 exists because the body keeps its own records.

Why a separate phase

Trauma is encoded somatically. The van der Kolk observation — that the body keeps the score — is not a slogan in EMDR; it's a protocol step. Cognitive resolution can outrun somatic resolution, and residual body sensation flags material the reprocessing hasn't fully reached. So after installation, you check the body explicitly rather than assuming.

How it runs

You ask the client to hold the target memory together with the positive cognition and mentally scan from head to feet, reporting any sensation — tension, tingling, heat, heaviness, nausea, or notably, lightness and ease. Positive sensations you strengthen with bilateral stimulation. Any residual disturbing sensation becomes a new focus for reprocessing sets until it clears.

A clean body scan is the difference between a client who understands they're safe and a client whose nervous system agrees.

What residual sensation tells you

Lingering somatic charge usually means one of three things: an unprocessed channel still connected to the target, a blocking belief that kept part of the network offline, or a separate but linked memory the body is pointing toward. Each is useful information. Phase 6 is often where the next target quietly announces itself.

Closing the loop

When the client can hold memory and positive cognition together with a body that's clear or positively at ease, the target is fully reprocessed. You move to Phase 7: Closure. If the scan keeps surfacing charge, you're back in desensitization — which is exactly what the phase is designed to catch.