Full Course Description

EMDR Mastery Course: Assessment, Resourcing and Treatment Techniques for Trauma and Anxiety

Program Information

Outline

The Neuroscience of Trauma and Anxiety

Introduction to the autonomic system (ANS)
Fight, flight, freeze, fawn survival responses
Polyvagal Theory, and types of freeze responses
Key brain areas involved in trauma and anxiety
Clinical implications of the freeze response

Mechanisms of Change: How EMDR and Other Treatment Approaches Work

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

Assessment: Connect Symptoms and Presentations to a Diagnosis

Nervous system switched on/off – PTSD and Depression
Underactivations and weakened connections
Trauma memories and intrusive thoughts
Phobias, anxiety and insula hyperactivation
Emotional hijackings and implicit memory: Basal ganglia and amygdala
Why treating avoidance is critical in anxiety and trauma
DSM-5® symptoms in a nutshell
Connect Your Client 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

EMDR as Applied Neuroplasticity

How EMDR builds dual awareness to treat avoidance
What you are thinking about is the network you’re in
You need to activate a network to change it
Neurons that fire together, wire together (Hebb’s Rule)
EMDR as neuroentrainment

Practical EMDR Techniques and Protocols to Move Clients from Surviving to Thriving

EMDR Assessment, Resourcing, Eye Movements and More: How to Work with 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: Locating tension and distress in the body
Closure: Closing the neural network and the 6-hour window
Re-evaluation

When to Use EMDR in Trauma and Anxiety Treatment

Demonstrations and experiential exercises
Single event trauma
Anxiety disorders involving imaginal exposure
Demonstration of original 8-Phase Model
***Experiential exercises with groups of three: client, therapist, observer
Preparation and assessment
Desensitization
Positive cognition and body scan

EMDR for Direct Treatment of Traumatic Memories

Modifications for complex/developmental trauma
Do not use standard protocol - Rationale for modifications
Resourcing strategies:
- Container
- Comfortable place
- Nurturing figure
- Protective figure
- Circle of support
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
Adaptive Information Processing Theory
EMDR techniques to bring traumatic memories into the prefrontal cortex

Attachment-Based EMDR for Resolving Relational Trauma

Strategies to foster the critical connection between client and therapist
How to emphasize safety during sessions
Guidance on order of operations:
- Resourcing with multisensory guided imagery
- Activate trauma network
- Desensitization round
- Ask, “What is coming up?”
- How to install positive cognition
- Identify and resolve remaining tension or distress in the body
- Debrief clients to ensure embodiment

EMDR Modifications for Anxiety Disorders

Modifications for phobias and generalized anxiety
Resourcing strategies for self-efficacy and control
Imaginal exposure and exposure through pictures and videos
Techniques to reinforce and activate positive neural networks
How to build Dual Awareness and reduce avoidance

EMDR Modifications for Other Disorders

Borderline Personality Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder
OCD
Generalized Anxiety Disorder

EMDR vs Brainspotting vs EFT vs Neuromodulation

When to use each
Strengths and limitations of each
Overview of how to conduct a Brainspotting session
Overview of how to conduct an EFT session
Integrating neuromodulation and EMDR for faster, more effective treatment

Research Limitations and Potential Risks

Objectives

Determine the role of the autonomic nervous system in trauma and anxiety symptomology.
Articulate the clinical implications of the freeze response in trauma treatment.
Characterize the potential neurobiological mechanisms of change in the empirically validated EMDR approach.
Specify how EMDR techniques can build dual awareness in clients to treat the avoidance that makes trauma and anxiety treatment challenging.
Employ the 8 Phases of the EMDR protocol.
Determine which clients you should use EMDR with.
Appraise the relevance of Polyvagal Theory and early trauma in EMDR work.
Communicate the central principle of the Adaptive Information Processing Theory and establish how it informs the EMDR approach.
Analyze resourcing strategies from EMDR that clinicians can use to help facilitate the processing of trauma.
Specify the steps clinicians must take to emphasize safety during EMDR sessions.
Determine how EMDR can be modified to treat anxiety disorders.
Differentiate between EMDR strategies recommended for trauma and EMDR strategies recommended for anxiety.
Characterize how EMDR techniques can be used to reinforce and activate positive neural networks.
Defend how EMDR can be modified to work with complex/developmental trauma to directly treat traumatic memories.
Evaluate strategies that can help foster the critical connection between client and therapist in EMDR therapy.
Formulate the order of operations for attachment-based EMDR treatment to resolve relational trauma.
Articulate how EMDR can be modified to work with Borderline Personality Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
Differentiate between EMDR and Brainspotting by communicating the strengths and limitations of each.