Understanding VOC and SUDS Scales for Kids in EMDR Therapy

When children engage in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, practitioners often use two important tools to help measure their feelings: the Validity of Cognition (VOC) scale and the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS).

The VOC scale helps children express how true their positive thoughts feel to them. For instance, after recalling a tough memory, a child might think, "I am safe now." The therapist asks them to rate how much they believe this thought on a scale from 1 to 7, where 1 means "not at all true" and 7 means "completely true." This helps the therapist understand how the child's feelings about their thoughts are changing.

The SUDS scale, on the other hand, measures the level of distress a child feels when thinking about a difficult memory. The child rates their feelings on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being "no distress at all" and 10 being "the worst distress imaginable." This helps both the child and the therapist track progress throughout the sessions.

By regularly using the VOC and SUDS scales, children can see how their feelings change as they work through their experiences, making the journey of healing a lot clearer and easier to understand.