At Connect Training + Consulting, we believe healing grows when clinicians feel supported, empowered, and genuinely connected to their purpose. Earlier this year, our Connect family was honored to begin a new partnership with Everyone’s Counseling Center (ECC) and La Amistad Behavioral Health Services to bring an EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Basic Training to Winter Park, FL. Part One of the training, which took place on January 16–18, was an incredible three days of learning with a highly motivated group of participants. We are now looking ahead to Part 2 of the training, taking place March 13–15, as participating clinicians continue deepening their skills in EMDR therapy.
Hosted at La Amistad Behavioral Health Services (1600 Dodd Road), this immersive EMDR training in Central Florida has offered both Interns and Licensed clinicians a chance to deepen their trauma-informed skill set through lecture, practicum, and consultation.
This is a community-building moment for Central Florida — a chance to strengthen clinicians’ confidence, expand their clinical toolkit, and make evidence-based trauma work more accessible in our region.
Everyone’s Counseling Center and La Amistad organizations have long been pillars of mental health care in Central Florida, and their enthusiasm for expanding trauma-informed treatment mirrors our own at Connect. Together, we hope to create something special: a training that not only equips clinicians with a powerful therapeutic tool but also strengthens the broader community of care.
Why This Training Matters Now
Everyone’s Counseling Center serves individuals and families across a wide spectrum of needs—trauma, addiction, anxiety, grief, relationship concerns, and more. Their team shared that over the past few years, they’ve seen a significant increase in clients who carry deep or chronic trauma that can’t always be fully addressed through talk therapy alone.
“We want our clinicians to have interventions that honor the depth of our clients’ stories,” ECC’s CEO Jamie Pocklington explained. “EMDR gives people a way to process difficult experiences safely and effectively. It opens doors to healing we can’t always access otherwise.”
For ECC, bringing this training to Winter Park is also about increasing accessibility. When clients progress more quickly and more effectively, clinicians can support more people who are waiting for care. EMDR Therapy becomes one more way ECC fulfills its mission of offering responsive, flexible, and client-centered services.
Strengthening Clinical Care Across All Levels of Treatment
La Amistad Behavioral Health Services offers mental health treatment in residential, PHP, and IOP settings—spaces where acute symptoms and complex trauma are often part of daily clinical work. La Amistad’s Community Outreach Advocate Paul Carey shared that EMDR represents an important step toward improving outcomes across the continuum of care.
“So many people arrive with trauma woven into every part of their experience. EMDR Therapy provides a structured, effective way to help clients move toward stability and long-term resilience.”
For clinicians working in higher-acuity environments, EMDR also supports sustainability. Having a clear, evidence-based protocol helps reduce overwhelm and gives therapists confidence when working with clients who have intense or multilayered trauma histories.
“We see EMDR as a support for clinicians just as much as for clients,” Carey emphasized.
Why We’re Bringing EMDR Training to Central Florida
Both ECC and La Amistad shared a powerful sense of timing: Central Florida clinicians are ready for high-quality, experiential, and culturally responsive training that prepares them for real-world trauma work. Hosting the training locally makes learning more accessible and creates opportunities for collaboration across organizations.
ECC’s Chief Clinical Officer, Dale “Dede” Eshleman summed it up like this: “We want Central Florida to be known for having deeply trained, deeply supported clinicians. When clinicians across our community share an evidence-based framework, everyone wins—clients, families, and the entire system of care.”
With Part 1 successfully completed in January, participating clinicians will reconvene this weekend, March 13–15, for Part 2 of the EMDR Basic Training. We’re grateful for the collaboration with ECC and La Amistad and excited to continue building a stronger, more trauma-informed clinical community across Central Florida.
Clinicians interested in future EMDR training opportunities with Connect Training + Consulting can stay connected through our website and upcoming training announcements.
