Self-care for EMDR practitioners

This protocol was derived from the notes of Neal Daniels, a clinical psychologist who was the director of the PTSD Clinical Team at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Always concerned about the welfare of clients and practitioners, he put together a short, simple, and effective protocol for the practitioner, on the completion of any session where there was negative affect remaining. In Neal's words, "The procedure is short, simple, effective. Right after the session or later on in the day when it is possible, bring up the image of the patient; do 10-15 eye movements; generate a positive cognition and install it with the patient's image and another 10-15 movements. Once the negative affects have been reduced, realistic formulations about the patient's future therapy are much easier to develop. Residual feelings of anger, frustration, regret, or hopelessness have been replaced by clearer thoughts about what can or cannot be done. Positive, creative mulling can proceed without the background feelings of unease, weariness, and ineffectiveness. Daily, weekly, or even career-long "burn-out" can be viewed as the accumulated residual of negative feelings that were not dealt with effectively when they occurred." The idea was to work on the material right after the session or later in the day when time allowed. The Clinician Self-Care Script is provided.

Book Section

English

Neal Daniels

Daniels, N. (2010). Self-care for EMDR practitioners. In M. Luber (Ed.), Eye movement desensitization (EMDR) scripted protocols: Special populations (pp. 615-616). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co