EMDR and emotionally focused couple therapy for war veteran couples

To help veteran couples, therapists need to understand the effect of war on the warrior, the impact of the warrior's experience on intimate relationships, and effective individual and couple treatments. These considerations are discussed in this chapter. Topic include war trauma and complex posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); effects of PTSD symptoms on veterans and their intimate relationships; problems in veterans' marital relationships; and treatment considerations. The therapy process described here is an integration of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). In case conceptualization and treatment planning, EMDR and EFT can be woven together harmoniously; many of their theoretical concepts and procedural steps are compatible with or parallel to one another. EFT and EMDR are first described separately. Next, the parallels between the two treatments are discussed. Then a plan is presented for combining EMDR and EFT in comprehensive treatment for couples affected by war trauma.

Book Section

English

Nancy Errebo
Rita Sommers-Flanagan

Errebo, N., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2007). EMDR and emotionally focused couple therapy for war veteran couples. In F. Shapiro, F. W. Kaslow, & L. Maxfield (Eds.), Handbook of EMDR and family therapy processes (pp. 202-222). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc