Most clients respond to EMDR treatments with ease and surprising success, while others are inexplicably resistant or become flooded, numb, sleepy, or blocked.  Still others have symptoms that contraindicate the use of EMDR trauma processing, such as active addiction, recent sobriety, or self-destructive behavior. Faced with the EMDR patient who cannot tolerate affect, who becomes overwhelmed by traumatic targets, who cannot stay grounded, manage self-destructive impulses, differentiate past and present experience, or create a Safe Place inside—is there any way that EMDR can be helpful?

The answer is, “Yes.”   The intrusive sensations, numbing, and overwhelming affects are all driven by autonomic dysregulation, the legacy of all the Post-traumatic Stress Disorders.  Fortunately, the use of simple body-centered interventions drawn from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy that modulate autonomic arousal and address somatically-driven trauma responses can often make EMDR treatments accessible even for blocked, de-stabilized and dissociative clients.

This advanced workshop will introduce a conceptual model for understanding how and when EMDR treatments can be effective even with dysregulated clients and offer a “crash course” in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, a body-centered talking therapy developed specifically to treat post-traumatic symptoms.  Participants will be taught simple, body-centered interventions that can be woven into both trauma processing and Resource Development protocols.  Using lecture, videotape, session demonstration and actual practice, participants will have an opportunity to integrate these simple but effective techniques into their EMDR practice.