Overcoming children’s barriers to engage in EMDR with the sleeping dogs method

With chronically traumatized children it can be difficult to decide whether they are ready to start processing with EMDR. They can struggle with severe symptoms and they are violent, avoidant, dissociate, have sexualized behaviour, they self-harm or are suicidal. EMDR therapy is recommended, but they are unable or unwilling to engage. These children often have experienced abuse or neglect within their families and child protection services are involved. There are so many issues, it is difficult to know where to start. How can these children be stabilized enough to start processing, when are they ready? These children can have different barriers to engage in EMDR therapy, such as feeling unsafe, having a secret, not feeling emotional permission from the parents to talk about the past, daily life struggles, not having support, avoiding to talk about trauma because of shame, guilt and self-hatred. The Sleeping Dogs method can be used by EMDR therapists to make a case conceptualisation and structured analysis of the child’s potential barriers by answering the nineteen questions of the Sleeping Dogs Tool. The Sleeping Dogs method provides interventions focused on overcoming these specific barriers, so these children can participate in EMDR therapy as soon as possible. Key elements are psychoeducation with the use of metaphors, increasing the child’s support system, and collaboration with the child’s network, the child’s biological family and child protection services. The Sleeping Dogs method can also be used for adults with an intellectual disability or children with language difficulties.

Conference

English

Arianne Struik

Struik, A. (2023, May). Overcoming children’s barriers to engage in EMDR with the sleeping dogs method. Virtual presentation at the EMDRAA Conference, Melbourne Victoria, Australia