Supplemental EMDR Therapy

Supplemental EMDR

EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, is a powerful supplement for traditional psychotherapy. We partner with therapists to help their clients resolve traumatic material interfering with their progress.  

When painful feelings about an event or negative life experience continue to intrude or interfere with the progress in therapy, EMDR is helpful in resolving these issues. Because not all therapists are trained to use this therapy approach, we offer our experience and expertise to supplement the ongoing therapy clients are currently receiving. This therapy does not replace or interrupt ongoing therapy.  With this collaborative approach, clients must remain under the care of their primary therapist throughout the course of EMDR therapy.

By targeting specific symptoms, memories or distressing events, EMDR can accelerate progress in traditional therapy, help the client and the primary therapist resolve stuck points, and enrich their ongoing work.

What is Supplemental EMDR Therapy?

Supplemental therapy is short-term, either with weekly, extended or intensive therapy sessions (multiple sessions in one day). The success of the treatment is based on well-focused and clearly defined goals.

If EMDR therapy is needed as a longer-term approach, it is integrated in the ongoing therapy of the client, especially for clients with complex trauma or dissociation.

It is common for clients to want to process and discuss what came up for them in the EMDR session with their primary therapist. This is part of the healing process as clients will integrate new learning, discuss new insights, or changed behaviors or responses to life and relationships. They may also make connections with new skills that they want to learn or apply to life experiences. Your therapist will discuss how to approach this to reduce an trauma activation between sessions.

How do I get started?

Clients are generally referred by their primary therapist. With a release of information in place, the primary therapist reaches out to the EMDR therapist to discuss the referral, to determine if the client is a “good fit” for EMDR, and to discuss the roles of the therapists. A consultation call is then set up with the client to further individualize care.

Good candidates for brief Adjunctive EMDR Therapy are generally individuals who have a good working relationship with their therapist, already have some coping skills and supports in place, and the referring therapist and client have indicated interest and willingness to actively collaborate with the EMDR therapist.  Besides being open to EMDR therapy an appropriate referral would be a client with a clear identifiable target or stuck point they wish to have addressed or a specific recent event that occurred that is interfering with therapy progress. In addition, a good candidate for adjunctive EMDR therapy would have no active substance abuse, self-injury, or safety risks, including unstable living situations.

Besides determining if the client is a good fit for EMDR it is also important for the therapists to understand their roles. The primary therapist will remain a therapist of record maintaining their treatment plan. The primary therapist manages crisis calls or client emergencies. The EMDR therapists maintains responsibility for the impact and effectiveness of the EMDR work both in and out of session.  In addition, active collaboration is a key component of success for the client in this partnership. Feedback about EMDR sessions is regularly provided to the primary therapist by the adjunctive EMDR therapist. A release of information must be in place for coordination of care during the course of EMDR therapy.

**We maintain professional ethics and will only continue to work with the client if they are engaged in therapy with the primary therapist. Supplmental therapy is not a transfer of care.**

 

Adjunctive EMDR Therapy Referral Process

The referral process is as follows:

• Primary therapist obtains a Release of Information from client and contacts EMDR therapist to discuss referral.
• Primary therapist and EMDR therapist discuss issues related to referral and develop potential targets for EMDR processing.
• Client schedules a consultation call with EMDR therapist.
• An intake appointment is scheduled and the client and EMDR therapist discuss issues for treatment, develop clear targets for treatment, thorough explanation of EMDR treatment and process, client signs open release of information between therapists and discuss EMDR therapist role in the treatment, as well as importance and necessity of continued work with the primary therapy
• The primary therapist and EMDR therapist agree upon a method for active and reciprocal communication to coordinate the therapy.

Referring therapists or clients interested in adjunctive EMDR therapy please email at [email protected] to get started.