Expanded phase 2 for complex and dissociative clients

One of the most common things we hear, as EMDR Training facilitators, especially at the beginning of training, is “I don’t have any simple clients, all my clients are complex”! Additionally, we currently have the well reported growing mental health needs of the general population due to events such as the pandemic, increasing traumatic weather events, as well as a much clearer understanding of the impacts and definition of complex trauma and adverse life events. As a result, a lot of us are seeing more and more complex clients. Some of those clients will require more in-depth resourcing and stabilisation in Phase 2. These clients may benefit from strategies to enhance support, safety and connection, utilizing a polyvagal approach (Dana, 2020) prior to phase 4 desensitisation. Participants will learn 2 polyvagal strategies integrated with EMDR DAS to assist their clients to regulate their nervous system in preparation for phase 4 desensitisation. Additionally, the have been a number of strategies introduced into EMDR Therapy to assist clients to reduce the level of SUDS with forms of restricted reprocessing, to prepare complex or dissociative clients for the full EMDR Protocol. In a recent pilot study CIPOS was shown to be effective (Stingl et. Al. 2022). In this workshop, participants will also be shown how to utilize CIPOS as a phase 2 strategy, with an emphasis on all these strategies being in the service of readying our more complex or dissociative clients for the Standard protocol.

Conference

English

Naomi Iliffe
Fiona Mawson

Iliffe, N., & Mawson, F. (2023, May). Expanded phase 2 for complex and dissociative clients. Pre-recorded presentation at the EMDRAA Conference, Melbourne Victoria, Australia