Back to Basics

I (Amber) have been thinking about what is important when it comes to understanding
and using EMDR therapy as part of a therapy practice. As I peruse social media groups, list-serves, and other locations where questions about EMDR are asked I feel that 90% of the
questions can be answered with “Standard Protocol” and “Trust the Process”. When going through the EMDR Basic training there are assigned readings for a reason.

The chapters in the foundational text written by Francine Shapiro in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures, provide you as the learner the ability to hear what Francine herself has to say about the history and development of this therapy. It provides examples and vignettes of clients she worked with as she developed what we still use today. This foundational text is foundational for a reason- it is
what the developer created to share this therapy with other professionals to use in their work with clients.

Creating a solid foundation in your understanding of the AIP model to develop a lens of
looking at client cases from the symptoms to the problems will be a step in your development as an EMDR clinician. I often have questions such as “What about a client with (fill in the blank)”.

The symptoms used to identify diagnosis give us as practitioners insight into the client’s nervous system. In looking at mood disorders, I ask the question “Where or how did this first develop?” or “Where did the body learn that this pattern is what was needed for survival?” These questions
take us back to the root. It brings to mind plants in a garden. Some of the plants are what we want, others are weeds, but the weeds are not just what is above the ground (that is the symptom) the weeds are also the roots that bring nutrients to the leaves and feed what is above
the ground.

Our goal in EMDR therapy is to get to the root to remove the power from the symptoms. For other disorders, we may ask questions such as: “What happened before the symptoms first appeared” or “What seems to make the symptoms worsen?” Again, we are looking for events in a person’s life that planted the seed for the disturbing symptoms to take root.

As we hold space with our client, we also hold space to trust that their neurology is going
to do what is needed for healing. As we go through the standard protocols from Phases 1 through 8 we step bit by bit into the healing space with our client as we hold attunement with their nervous system. There is a reason the Standard Protocol has remained essentially unchanged since Francine developed and researched it, and it is because it works. There is a
reason it is the same protocol across the world, and this is because it works.

I challenge you through the next couple of months to go back to the basics. Re-read the
Shapiro text, review your Standard Basic Protocol and review the foundation of this amazing
therapy. EMDR is detailed and particular, but not complicated once you have a solid
foundational understanding in place.

Remember, we at CompassionWorks are here to help you and support you.

Reach out and let us know how we can help you on your EMDR journey.