EMDR Recent Events Protocol (R-TEP & G-TEP)
Francine Shapiro's Recent Events Protocol and the R-TEP / G-TEP protocols developed by Elan Shapiro and colleagues — when to use them, how they differ from the standard protocol, and verbatim scripts.
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Memories from the last 30–90 days often haven't consolidated: they are stored as separate fragments with no single narrative. Francine Shapiro's Recent Events Protocol and the later R-TEP and G-TEP (Elan Shapiro and colleagues) process the episode as a continuous narrative, scanning across all its fragments, instead of choosing one target as the standard protocol does.
Why recent events need a different protocol
Standard EMDR assumes a memory is consolidated — a single, coherent target the brain has filed away (incorrectly) as still present. Memories from the last 30–90 days often haven't consolidated yet. They're stored as fragmented snapshots — separate visual, auditory, and somatic pieces — with no unifying narrative. Treating each fragment as a 'target' in the standard 8-phase protocol misses fragments and risks re-traumatization.
The Recent Events Protocol (Shapiro, 1995) and the more recent R-TEP / G-TEP (Shapiro & Laub, 2008) solve this by processing the episode as a continuous narrative with scanning across all fragments, rather than picking one target at a time.
When to use which protocol
Standard 8-phase protocol — event older than ~90 days, consolidated as a coherent memory, single discrete incident. See the 8 phases of EMDR for the full standard-protocol reference.
Shapiro's Recent Events Protocol — event within the last 1–3 months, partially consolidated, client can give a coherent narrative but with intrusive fragments. Best for single discrete incidents (car accident, assault, medical event).
R-TEP (Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol, Shapiro & Laub) — event within last 1–6 months, ongoing or extended traumatic episode (natural disaster aftermath, hospital stay, war zone). Uses a 'Telescopic Processing' lens that scans across the whole episode.
G-TEP (Group Traumatic Episode Protocol) — same indications as R-TEP but delivered to groups (school after a shooting, community after a disaster). Uses a structured worksheet with eye movements paced by the clinician.
Shapiro's Recent Events Protocol — step by step
Step 1: Obtain a narrative of the incident from beginning to end. Note all the discrete 'frames' the client mentions — the call, the impact, the ambulance, the ER, the call to family. Each frame is a candidate target.
Step 2: Process the most disturbing frame first with the standard Phase 3–6 procedure. Get full clearance (SUD 0, VOC 7, body scan clear).
Step 3: Process each remaining frame in chronological order, regardless of disturbance level. Even frames the client doesn't currently report as distressing — they may carry unprocessed material.
Step 4: Process the entire narrative as a single target. Ask the client to run the incident from beginning to end as if watching a movie, eyes open, with continuous BLS. Pause and process anything that spikes.
Step 5: Future template — visualise the next anticipated trigger (driving past the intersection, walking past the hospital) handled with the new adaptive belief.
Usually completes in 1–3 sessions for a single discrete incident.
R-TEP: the Telescopic Processing addition
R-TEP adds a continuous scanning lens. Instead of treating discrete frames, the client is asked to 'scan the entire episode' from before the event to the present, while you provide short bursts of BLS at any point disturbance spikes.
Three levels of scanning are nested: the entire Traumatic Episode (TE) → individual Points of Disturbance (PoDs) within the TE → discrete EMDR targets within each PoD. The clinician zooms in (telescopes down) only when a PoD reaches a clinical threshold of distress; otherwise scanning continues.
R-TEP also includes specific safeguards for early-intervention work: longer Phase 2 stabilization, explicit Safe/Calm Place at every closure, and a strict 'no opening of old material' rule — the protocol stays inside the recent episode and does not chase touchstone memories that surface (those are noted for later standard-protocol work).
Decision tree: which protocol fits this client?
Run this after Phase 1 history-taking and screening.
+Event >3 months ago, fully consolidated, client gives coherent narrative
+Event within last 1–3 months, single discrete incident (accident, assault, medical event)
+Event within last 1–6 months, extended episode (hospital stay, evacuation, war zone)
+Group of survivors of same recent event (school, community, organisation)
+Event within last 72 hours, client still in acute stress
+Recent event sits on top of a substantial earlier trauma history
Verbatim script: opening Shapiro's Recent Events Protocol
Use at the start of session 1 once Phase 1 + 2 are complete and the recent-events indication is confirmed.
Why early intervention isn't always EMDR
Most acute stress symptoms resolve within 2–4 weeks without intervention (natural recovery). EMDR within 72 hours of an event is controversial — there's no consistent evidence that it prevents PTSD, and it risks interfering with natural consolidation. The current EMDRIA position: stabilization and Psychological First Aid in the first weeks, reserve EMDR for clients still symptomatic at 2–4 weeks, or for high-risk presentations (prior PTSD, dissociation, severe acute distress) where the cost of waiting outweighs the cost of intervening early.
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Frequently asked questions
Shapiro's version processes discrete frames sequentially using standard Phase 3–6 on each. R-TEP adds Telescopic Processing — continuous scanning across the whole episode with BLS applied only when disturbance spikes — and includes stricter early-intervention safeguards. R-TEP is generally preferred for extended or ongoing episodes; Shapiro's version for single discrete incidents.
Yes. R-TEP and G-TEP are EMDRIA-recognised special trainings that require completion of EMDR Basic Training first. G-TEP especially should not be improvised — group dynamics during reprocessing are complex and require structured supervision.
Sometimes — but verify first. Ask the client to walk through the entire episode chronologically. If they spontaneously report fragments, somatic-only memory pieces, or 'I don't remember that part', the memory hasn't consolidated and a recent-events protocol is safer.
Note it, do not chase it. R-TEP discipline is to stay inside the recent episode. Old touchstones that surface go on the standard-protocol target list for after R-TEP completes. Chasing them mid-R-TEP destabilizes both the recent processing and the client.
References
4 sources · peer-reviewed and clinical texts
- 1Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures (3rd ed.). Guilford Press — Recent Events Protocol, chapter 9.
- 2Shapiro, E., & Laub, B. (2008). Early EMDR intervention (EEI): A summary, a theoretical model, and the Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol (R-TEP). Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 2(2), 79–96.
- 3Shapiro, E., & Laub, B. (2015). Early EMDR intervention following a community critical incident: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 9(1), 17–27.
- 4Roberts, N. P., Kitchiner, N. J., Kenardy, J., & Bisson, J. I. (2019). Multiple session early psychological interventions for the prevention of post-traumatic stress disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Free PDFs for this topic
Tools & resources
How the standard 8-phase protocol compares to recent-events variants.
Target identification when standard protocol applies.
The diagnosis recent-events protocols try to prevent or treat early.
EMDR Assist — the in-session companion built for therapists.
Related reading
Your therapist gathers your history and maps out the memories that will become reprocessing targets.
You learn the EMDR procedure and build internal resources (Safe Place, Container) before any reprocessing begins.
The target memory is activated and measured: image, negative cognition, positive cognition, SUD and VOC.
Sets of bilateral stimulation reprocess the target memory until distress (SUD) drops to 0.
The positive belief is paired with the memory and strengthened with BLS until the VOC reaches 7.
You scan your body for any residual tension or sensation tied to the memory, and clear it with BLS.