Treating relational trauma with EMDR

Traditional psychotherapy has always been divided by a gap between trauma and systemic thinking. Trauma therapy like EMDR is recommended for so-called DSM traumas (e.g., car accidents). However, for childhood trauma (such as an absent parent), the focus is typically on systemic therapy. Many patients fall into this gap. Purely systemic therapy can help people reexamine or reestablish family bonds. It can also provide insights into the origins of the issue. However, the gains may be limited when it comes to feelings of loneliness or a poor self-image. When applying the basic EMDR protocol to trauma, we need concrete memories that can activate the full emotional charge. This is why EMDR is such an effective tool for processing singular trauma. It involves a one-time event, accompanied by a very specific memory. However, the majority of cases in our practice involve childhood traumas resulting from past upbringing situations. These issues rarely stem from specific situations with concrete memories, but rather from a nurturing environment, an unsafe home situation, or an unpredictable parent. Such traumas are much less tangible than so-called DSM traumas. Many individuals fall into the gap between systemic thinking and EMDR: systemic work doesn’t reach the emotion sufficiently, while conversely, there are not enough core memories available for EMDR. Nevertheless, we firmly believe that even youth traumas of this nature can be effectively processed with EMDR. With ‘Affect Focused EMDR’, we try so fix this problem. We also try to find answers to how therapists can have less fear for the emotion and how we can manage to dig deeper into the emotion of the patients.

Conference

English

Ludwig Cornil
Olivier van Limbergen

Cornil, L., & van Limbergen, O. (2024, March). Treating relational trauma with EMDR. Presentation at the 22nd EMDR UK Association, York, UK