The European EMDR shrinking protocol for children and adolesence: Development, theoretical considerations and clinical insights

The development of the Shrinking Protocol and its application has given rise to many interesting questions relating to the nature of trauma in childhood including whether pre-verbal trauma exists and is treatable; what constitutes a trauma in childhood; how does attachment and family dynamics affect EMDR therapy; what is dissociation in childhood and how can it be managed in EMDR therapy; what are the effects of chronic long-term traumatisation in early childhood and how soon can these be addressed. Also interesting questions have included how does it get integrated with other therapeutic modes and when to start. Further interesting discoveries have also been made when applying it to special groups, for example children with ASD and other developmental and medical conditions. EMDR therapy for children and adolescents is now being found to have very wide-ranging applications.

This workshop will describe the evolution of the Shrinking Protocol which was based on the earlier work of Tinker & Wilson (1999) and demonstrate some of its different applications and uses with different conditions which will be illustrated with video clips. It also will demonstrate how EMDR therapy has led to new insights into the nature of traumatisation in childhood and suggest potential new directions for research and therapy.

Conference

English

Joanne Morris-Smith

Morris-Smith, J. (2011, June). The European EMDR shrinking protocol for children and adolesence: Development, theoretical considerations and clinical insights. Pre-conference presentation at the 12th European Conference on Traumatic Stress (ECOTS), Vienna, Austria