Practicing EMDR for trauma recovery in Bangladesh: A push forward

EMDR as a tool for trauma recovery was introduced in Bangladesh for nearly two decades ago by UNICEF. Over hundreds received thorough training by frontline trainers, yet only about 2% continued to practice EMDR. Nevertheless it paved the path for psychological treatment in mental health field. The thirst for EMDR remained dormant for a long period among many. It was the persistent effort of one soul that EMDR was revitalized with support of the good office of HAP/Trauma Aid Switzerland. Based on past wisdom, an intense, culturally appropriate curriculum was developed on Psychotraumatology and EMDR, and introduced as foundation to be followed by core EMDR training to ensure sustainability. The outcome was a group of practicing mental health professionals enthusiastically applying EMDR to handle after effect of trauma. In this paper, exploratory research design would be followed to trace the practice and prospect of EMDR in Bangladesh. Through interview, group discussion and self reflection, benefit of the foundation, extent of EMDR use, core competency and the area to focus further would be considered. Resulting insights would facilitate to establish foundation on psychotraumatology and EMDR as a means to meet the gaps in theoretical and practical knowhow. Self-reflection on experience with EMDR would be a rich source to explore the ease of integrating EMDR as a culturally appropriate therapeutic tool. Identified area of improvement would aid in future planning to guarantee the forward movement of EMDR application. Ultimate success of the program would twist the demand for scaling up and continuity.

Conference

English

Shaheen Islam

Islam, S. (2017, April). Practicing EMDR for trauma recovery in Bangladesh: A push forward. In Training/supervision/consultation issues in EMDR (Ann Parichawan, Chair). Presentation at the 3rd EMDR Asia International Conference, Shanghai, China