EMDR therapy as a transdiagnostic approach

Historically, a diagnosis-based system has predominated in mental health. However, as most clinicians are aware, typically, clients meet diagnostic criteria for several diagnoses. This can result in significant deviations from evidence-based practice, symptoms being overlooked, or the intervention being unnecessarily extended as the clinician can be forced to prioritise one diagnosis over another. This can also result in the client feeling invalidated and the therapist feeling overwhelmed due to the client’s unique cluster of presenting issues. Accordingly, there has recently been a shift from a diagnostic-based system to a transdiagnostic model to best accommodate the clients' individual presentation. This presentation will explore the benefit of a transdiagnostic approach when working with psychopathology. It will demonstrate why EMDR therapy, and the AIP model that underpins it, is an appropriate transdiagnostic approach to improve client prognosis and treatment efficiency. Case studies will also be provided to demonstrate key concepts.

Conference

English

Sarah Dominguez

Dominguez, S. (2024, May). EMDR therapy as a transdiagnostic approach. Keynote presented at the EMDRAA Conference, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia