EMDR Practitioner Toolbox – Treatment of Complex PTSD

This course is created by Vishakha Bhalla under the guidance of Aman Varma who has undergone accredited course training in CBT practitioner, Diploma in Hypnotherapy, Mental Health Practitioner, NLP Specialist Practitioner, Diploma in Psychological Counseling and Diploma in Modern Applied Psychology.

This course has two main goals: to provide descriptions of specific EMDR therapeutic tools and, by incorporating these tools, to develop an overview of an Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model of the treatment of Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Complex PTSD).

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a fairly new, nontraditional type of psychotherapy. It’s growing in popularity, particularly for treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD often occurs after experiences such as military combat, physical assault, rape, or car accidents.

Although research continues, EMDR remains controversial among some health care professionals.

At first glance, EMDR appears to approach psychological issues in an unusual way. It does not rely on talk therapy or medications. Instead, EMDR uses a patient’s own rapid, rhythmic eye movements. These eye movements dampen the power of emotionally charged memories of past traumatic events.

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has noted that EMDR is effective for treating symptoms of acute and chronic PTSD. According to the APA, EMDR may be particularly useful for people who have trouble talking about the traumatic events they’ve experienced. The APA guidelines note that other research is needed to tell whether improvements from EMDR can be sustained over time.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy treatment that was originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories (Shapiro, 1989a, 1989b). Shapiro’s (2001) Adaptive Information Processing model posits that EMDR therapy facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories and other adverse life experiences to bring these to an adaptive resolution. After successful treatment with EMDR therapy, affective distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and physiological arousal is reduced.