EMDR in the treatment of complex traumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents

Repeated traumatic experiences within the family and/or community during critical early years leave children with symptoms of traumatic stress and interruptions in children’s emotional and social development and capacity for healthy attachments. As a result, they are high risk for developing behavioural reactivity, aggression, impulsivity, depression, anxiety, suicidality, and self-harm. Lecture, handouts and videos will provide participants with steps to a practical, integrative EMDR and family therapy approach to helping children and adolescents with complex traumatic stress disorders. The family therapy component shifts parents to attune through the trauma lens, co-regulate, and build self- reflective capacity along with the child. The EMDR component builds parent-child experiences of connection in the office through Attachment Resource Development (ARD) methods and provides adaptations for safe reprocessing of past, present, and future through EMDR therapy.

Conference

English

Debra Wesselmann

Wesselmann, D. (2022, November). EMDR in the treatment of complex traumatic stress disorders in children and adolescents. Presentation at the Annual EMDRNZ Conference, Wellington, New Zealand