Installing therapist, therapist's office, and maintaining duality

Clients with dissociative disorders (DD) or complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) often have issues concerning the "therapist's trustworthiness, inherent dangerousness and potential abusiveness" (Loewenstein, 1993, p. 66). Goals of this exercise are the following: (1) Increase cooperation between the therapist and the dissociative system by communicating knowledge about the therapist, the office, and experience in treatment to all parts of the system. (2) Maintaining the client's dual awareness while processing information concerning trauma in the past. It is essential for these clients to maintain their connection to the therapist and the present. Dual attention stimulation (DAS) is used to install and communicate the information. Script notes are presented here.

Book Section

English

Joanne Twombly

Twombly, J. (2010). Installing therapist, therapist's office, and maintaining duality. In M. Luber's (Ed.), Eye movement desensitization (EMDR) scripted protocols: Special populations (pp. 269-274). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co