Resource connection for children

The Resource Connection for Children is a search to support children in finding their own unique ways to feel the safety, confidence, and relief of making a solid connection with their therapists in the here and now of the therapeutic session. These are their principle supports as they enter and go through the EMDR processing. The term Resource Connection, as well as the idea of a continuation of resources threaded through the EMDR Standard Protocol, was first used by Brurit Laub (2001) in her work with adults. The procedure is based on three principles: (1) Children do not access memories in as organized a manner as adults. (2) Children live and function in the present much more completely than do adults. (3) Children have a much more immediate and labile reaction to their present emotions compared to adults. Instead of asking the child to remember an event as we do with adults, the therapist's task is to be aware of the child's resources throughout the protocol. The therapist must not only question parents to be aware of this child's strengths but also observe closely the unique experience of the child in the here and now of the playroom. The components of the Resource Connection for Children are the following: (a) Identifying the resource. (b) Emphasizing the sensory, the emotional, and the cognitive aspects of the resource experience. (c) Instructing the child to either freeze and focus or exaggerate and focus on the resource. (d) Bilateral stimulation to install the resource.

Book Section

English

Wizansky, B. (2010). Resource connection for children. In M. Luber (Ed.), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Scripted Protocols: Special Populations  (pp. 31-41). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co