EMDR Revisited
In June of 2017 when Curt Widhalm, LMFT explained EMDR at VFED, few in our group knew very much. It says something about this tool and about us that most who attended last month’s VFED meeting had already taken some training. And so Elizabeth Wray, LMFT’S presentation both spoke to the advanced practitioner and drew upon experience in the room.
Following an excellent guided imagery, she highlighted advantages of EMDR- which reprocesses trauma like weeds- doing more than just chopping off the tops. It helps avoid the need to actually relive the trauma in treatment (see “EMDR Explained” attachment). And as a scripted treatment it allows the practitioner- in some sense- to get out of the way of the healing.
Work is done in 8 phases involving Resourcing and Reprocessing and it is important that the patient feel in control of decisions to stop or to go forward.
Liz addressed her own original skepticism concluding that we need to trust the process, ourselves if we intend our ED clients to. We were inspired by her compassion, reminding us that disordered behaviors have been the one thing that has worked well for them, so learning new resources may take time.
Full training, available through various institutions is recommended. Certification (optional for treatment) is offered through EMDRIA.org. Liz’s powerpoint is available by request.
For a couple of handouts that were used during the presentation click these links:
Take a few minutes to watch her recommended further learning videos:
Introduction to EMDR Therapy from EMDRIA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkfln-ZtWeY#action=share
listen to Katie Morton explain it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhaWIVK6ERI
And here is a delightful and brief animated explanation in a Dutch accent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKrfH43srg8
See you in January!