2-Day EMDR Seminar: A Rapid, Safe, and Proven Treatment for Trauma

Trauma and Neuroscience

• Key brain areas involved in trauma
• Polyvagal Theory, and types of freeze responses
• Trauma and insecure attachment
• The neuroscience of developmental trauma 
• Clinical implications of the freeze response

How the EMDR Approach Works

• The neuroscience of exposure therapy and cognitive therapy
• The neuroscience of relaxation exercises 
• EMDR and other “transformative therapies”
• Why  EMDR works so well from a brain perspective

Trauma Symptoms and Assessment Tools 

• Traumatic memories and intrusive thoughts 
• Phobias and anxiety: Insula hyperactivation 
• Emotional hijackings and implicit memory 
• Avoidance cluster of symptoms
• Why treating avoidance in trauma is critical 
• DSM-5® symptoms in a nutshell 
• Connecting to a diagnosis
• Simple vs. complex trauma 
• Intergenerational trauma
• Symptom clusters and physical manifestations
• CAPS-5 and PCL-5
• Primary Care PTSD Screen 
• Dual diagnosis

Overcome Avoidance with EMDR

• Dual awareness
• What you are thinking about is the network you’re in
• Activate networks for change
• Neurons that fire together, wire together (Hebb’s Rule)
• EMDR as neuroentrainment

When to Use EMDR in Treatment 

• Demonstrations and experiential exercises 
• Single event trauma
• Anxiety disorders involving imaginal exposure

EMDR Trauma Treatment:

• The Original 8-Phase Model
• Client history and treatment planning 
• How to resource: Create a safe space
• Assessment: Choose a target, SUDS, connect with the image/emotions/thought
• Desensitization: Tactile vs. auditory vs. eye movement
• How to use touchpoints, Theratapper, CDs
• Positive Cognition Installation: Likert scale 1-7
• Body Scan: Locate tension and distress in the body
• Closure: Close the neural network and the 6-hour window
• Re-evaluation

Demonstration of Original 8-Phase Model

• Presenter demonstration
• Attendee dyad practice of the 8-phase model

EMDR Techniques to Resolve Traumatic Memories

• Modifications for Complex/Developmental Trauma
• Do not use standard protocol - Rationale for modifications
• Resourcing strategies
• Techniques to reinforce and activate positive neural networks
• Relevance of Polyvagal Theory, early trauma, and EMDR
• Sensory motor modifications and somatic approaches
• How to build Dual Awareness
• EMDR techniques to bring traumatic memories from the limbic system into the prefrontal cortex

Attachment-Based EMDR:

• Strategies to Treat Relational Trauma
• Strategies to foster the critical connection between client and therapist
• Mirror neuron activation
• How to emphasize safety during sessions 
• Guidance on order of operations

Research Limitations and Potential Risks