Working with EMDR in the treatments of clients with other (sub)cultures and religions: Multi-culti EMDR

Description

Working with traumatized clients from other cultures can be very demanding, and even frustrating: many times it just does not work out, despite your compassion and efforts. “Just staying out of the way” many times is not enough to do this job.

Intercultural competence is the ability to expand and translate your therapeutic skills to other cultures. It has both an attitude aspect and a technical aspect: a different style of relating and communications with your client, and different things to ask and explore.

Also in other cultures traumatic events happening to people have a different meaning asking for an approach from another angle in doing EMDR: interpreting traumas a stupid bad luck, Allah’s will, the evil eye, karma, or punishment by the ancestors, will have different (therapeutic) consequences.

This workshop offers not only a systemic way to understand these type of differences, it offers also very practical dos and don’ts, and of course tips and tricks to overcome difficulties.

The presentation puts strong emphasis on the development of resources and the building up of affect tolerance, making use of the healing rituals, objects and symbols of your clients own culture. These resources are utilized both before and during EMDR.

Part of the presentation is a collection of magical; healing objects from other cultures, including your own (maybe forgotten) culture, with ideas how to use them in the EMDR process. This is to inspire participants to develop their own collection.

The presentation follows the 8 phases of the EMDR protocol, describing specific considerations for each of the phases.

Format

Conference

Language

English

Author(s)

Joany Spierings

Original Work Citation

Spierings, J. (2004, June). Working with EMDR in the treatments of clients with other (sub)cultures and religions: Multi-culti EMDR. Presentation at the 5th EMDR Europe Association Conference, Stockholm, Sweden

Citation

“Working with EMDR in the treatments of clients with other (sub)cultures and religions: Multi-culti EMDR,” Francine Shapiro Library, accessed May 11, 2024, https://francineshapirolibrary.omeka.net/items/show/19377.

Output Formats