EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) therapy has been successfully used for the past thirty years for those who have suffered PTSD in the military. Recently it has been recognized as a useful therapy for other forms of trauma. For the author of this book, it was a lifesaving means of reprocessing painful experiences from her upbringing that continued to affect her life. Because “hurt people hurt people,” Marie Pflugrad tells her story of pain and relief through EMDR to demonstrate how the past can be the past and not a shadow darkening the present.

"An intimate and important memoir of deconstructing and reconstructing faith after abuse ... a spiritual memoir that does not shy away from abuse, queerness, or the multifaceted character of God." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) A courageous, vulnerable, and spellbinding memoir that explores with visceral impact what happens when harm starts at home—and is exalted as God’s will For readers of Unfollow and Jesus Land: Jamie Marich explores spiritual abuse, intergenerational trauma, and weaponized faith At nine years old, Jamie Marich asked God to end it all. Doing it herself would be an irrevocable sin: an affront to the church and her father’s God. She prayed instead for the rapture, an accident, a passive death—anything to stop the turmoil of feeling wrong: wrong in her body; wrong in her desires; wrong in her faith in a merciful God that could love her wholly as she was. You Lied to Me About God explores the schisms that erupt when faith is weaponized, when abuse collides with the push-and-pull of a mixed religious upbringing tyhat tells you: no matter which path you choose—no matter what you know in your heart to be true—you’re probably damned. With resilience, strength, and gut-punching clarity, Marich takes readers through a tumultuous coming-of-age marked by addiction, escapism, spiritual manipulation, misogyny, and abuse. She shares with unflinching detail the complicity of her mother’s silence and the lengths her father went to assert dominance and control over her body, her desires, her identity—and even her eternal soul—”for her own good” and with a side of televangelistic hellfire. Hitting a breaking point, Marich embarks on pilgrimage: from shrines in Croatia to ashrams in Florida, she reckons with what it means to come home to a faith that heals and accepts her wholly as she is: in her queerness, in her body, and in her deep relationship to an expansive and loving God.

Based on the belief that mindfulness is a critical component in the delivery of EMDR, this innovative text integrates mindfulness-informed practice with EMDR therapy to create an effective new approach for healing trauma. Based on current evidence-based research, the book demonstrates—with clear, step-by-step guidelines—how clinicians can conceptualize and deliver trauma-focused care in both mental health and addiction treatment. Infused with practical applications, the book offers clearly articulated and effective approaches that provide a concrete beginning, middle, and end of treatment planning. Following a description of the long history of mindfulness practices, the book offers guidelines for developing one’s own mindfulness practice—emphasizing the use of trauma-focused language—and suggestions for teaching specific techniques to clients. The book describes both classic and creative mindfulness practices, including breath awareness/sensory grounding, breath meditation, body scanning, feeling tone meditation, labeling, standing meditation, walking meditation, and loving-kindness meditation, along with using day-to-day objects as a meditative focus, movement practices, the expressive arts, and other forms of creativity. Key Features: Offers a complete framework for healing trauma by integrating mindfulness-informed practice with EMDR therapy Provides clearly articulated, step-by-step approaches that are evidence-based Authored by noted experts in EMDR and mindfulness-based therapies Includes guidelines for developing one’s own mindfulness practice and tools for teaching specific practices to clients Describes both classic and creative mindfulness practices

This is definitely a book whose time has come. One of the brilliant aspects of the EMDR therapy approach is that it makes it clinically possible to cut through social issues, and yet maintain its cultural consonance. From multiple contributions around the world, each chapter brings significant insights into how EMDR therapy can be culturally attuned and yet efficacious in preserving the individuality of each client. Highly recommended for those therapists who work in multi-cultural settings. -Esly Regina Carvalho, Ph.D., Trainer of Trainers, EMDR Institute/EMDR Iberoam rica and President TraumaClinic do Brasil/TraumaClinic Edições, Brasilia, Brazil. Underscoring the importance of cultural competence, this groundbreaking book focuses on using EMDR therapy with specific populations, particularly those groups typically stigmatized, oppressed, or otherwise marginalized in society. Drawing on social psychology research and theory as well as social justice and social work principles, it delivers general protocols for EMDR intervention for recovery from the internalized effects of cultural mistreatment. Employing best-practice methods for cultural competence as EMDR therapy is introduced to new cultures worldwide, the editor and esteemed EMDR clinician-authors relay their experiences, insights, guidance, and lessons learned through trial and error while adapting EMDR interventions for cross-cultural competency and therapeutic effectiveness The text defines cultural competence and validates the need for a multi-culturally aware approach to psychotherapy that embraces authentic socialidentities and attends to the impact of socially based trauma. Chapters address using EMDR therapy to heal the trans-generational impact of Anti-Semitism,working with the LGBT population, treating an immigrant woman suffering from social anxiety, healing individuals with intellectual disabilities, thetraumatizing effects of racial prejudice, harmful cultural messages about physical appearance, EMDR therapy attuned to specific cultural populations andsocially based identities, and many other scenarios. The text is replete with step-by-step treatment guidelines to help clients recover from traumatic lifeevents, dos and don‚Äôts, and common adaptive and maladaptive cultural beliefs. Key Features: Defines cultural competence and validates the need for a multi-culturally aware approach to psychotherapy Offers innovative protocols and strategies for treating socially based trauma within the EMDR model Presents best practice methods for cultural competence Includes step-by-step treatment guidelines and dos and don'ts Written by highly esteemed EMDR clinician-authors

Integrating the latest in attachment theory and research into the use of EMDR. Much has been written about trauma and neglect and the damage they do to the developing brain. But little has been written or researched about the potential to heal these attachment wounds and address the damage sustained from neglect or poor parenting in early childhood. This book presents a therapy that focuses on precisely these areas. Laurel Parnell, leader and innovator in the field of eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), offers us a way to embrace two often separate worlds of knowing: the science of early attachment relationships and the practice of healing within an EMDR framework. This beautifully written and clinically practical book combines attachment theory, one of the most dynamic theoretical areas in psychotherapy today, with EMDR to teach therapists a new way of healing clients with relational trauma and attachment deficits. Readers will find science-based ideas about how our early relationships shape the way the mind and brain develop from our young years into our adult lives. Our connections with caregivers induce neural circuit firings that persist throughout our lives, shaping how we think, feel, remember, and behave. When we are lucky enough to have secure attachment experiences in which we feel seen, safe, soothed, and secure—the “four S’s of attachment” that serve as the foundation for a healthy mind—these relational experiences stimulate the neuronal activation and growth of the integrative fibers of the brain. EMDR is a powerful tool for catalyzing integration in an individual across several domains, including memory, narrative, state, and vertical and bilateral integration. In Laurel Parnell’s attachment-based modifications of the EMDR approach, the structural foundations of this integrative framework are adapted to further catalyze integration for individuals who have experienced non-secure attachment and developmental trauma. The book is divided into four parts. Part I lays the groundwork and outlines the five basic principles that guide and define the work. Part II provides information about attachment-repair resources available to clinicians. This section can be used by therapists who are not trained in EMDR. Part III teaches therapists how to use EMDR specifically with an attachment-repair orientation, including client preparation, target development, modifications of the standard EMDR protocol, desensitization, and using interweaves. Case material is used throughout. Part IV includes the presentation of three cases from different EMDR therapists who used attachment-focused EMDR with their clients. These cases illustrate what was discussed in the previous chapters and allow the reader to observe the theoretical concepts put into clinical practice—giving the history and background of the clients, actual EMDR sessions, attachment-repair interventions within these sessions and the rationale for them, and information about the effects of the interventions and the course of treatment.

Roger M. Solomon examines how EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy can help process the trauma of loss and the obstacles that interfere with the grief and mourning process, highlighting how EMDR can help a mourner experience a positive sense of connection through heartfelt, meaningful memories.

A totally accessible user's guide from the creator of a scientifically proven form of psychotherapy that has successfully treated millions of people worldwide. Whether we've experienced small setbacks or major traumas, we are all influenced by memories and experiences we may not remember or don't fully understand. Getting Past Your Past offers practical procedures that demystify the human condition and empower readers looking to achieve real change. Shapiro, the creator of EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), explains how our personalities develop and why we become trapped into feeling, believing and acting in ways that don't serve us. Through detailed examples and exercises readers will learn to understand themselves, and why the people in their lives act the way they do. Most importantly, readers will also learn techniques to improve their relationships, break through emotional barriers, overcome limitations and excel in ways taught to Olympic athletes, successful executives and performers. An easy conversational style, humor and fascinating real life stories make it simple to understand the brain science, why we get stuck in various ways and what to do about it. Don't let yourself be run by unconscious and automatic reactions. Read the reviews below from award winners, researchers, academics and best selling authors to learn how to take control of your life.

Adversity is a part of life and many of us have experienced trauma that has left us feeling distressed, scared or alone. This book draws on Bridie and Sue's background in Clinical Psychology to help you identify what trauma is, the effect it can have on your physical and mental health, and how you can cope. Containing many ideas and strategies to support you with the impact of trauma, including giving yourself a butterfly hug to calm yourself down or sending an email to someone who lives far away to feel more connected, this is a guide that you can dip in and out of, and return to at different stages in your life after trauma. Co-written with two young people who were brave enough to share their own stories, you will find that you are not alone, that nothing stays the same, and that there's always hope.

Mental health practitioners must be prepared to treat addiction-related issuesóaffecting up to 50% of mental health clientsówhether or not clients present with addiction as a primary concern. This practical roadmap to the treatment of addictions advocates an underutilizedóyet highly effectiveómethod of intervention: eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. It is the first book to integrate the Stages of Change Model with EMDRís phases for successful treatment outcome. The book addresses the scope of problems relating to addiction, including relevant statistics and descriptions of substance and process addictions, and considers the connection between addiction and trauma. While focusing on the use of EMDR therapy in treating addictions, the book also considers traditional models for each stage of treatment so interventions can be individualized according to the needs of each client. The authors describe in detail the Transtheoretical Model, tracing its development and theoretical foundations. They discuss each of its stages in depth, presenting and integrating EMDR interventions used by therapists in each stage. The interventions are useful for helping clients at any motivational level. Case vignettes in each chapter illustrate how EMDR techniques are used, and several detailed cases are provided at the end of the book. The appendix features additional resources and EMDR protocols. The text will be useful for therapists currently using EMDR for addiction treatment as well as those using other modalities who are seeking an effective alternative. Key Features: Provides a practical roadmap to using the Stages of Change Model and EMDR therapy for effectively treating addictions Addresses substance and process addictions in depth Focuses on the traumañaddiction connection and treatment options Describes each Stage of Change and EMDR protocols and interventions for each stage Includes case vignettes and detailed case examples

"This volume is a welcome and excellent resource for all clinicians working with severely traumatized children." Francine Shapiro, PhD Founder, EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs "Over the past 15 years, Ms. Gomez has developed highly original and brilliant interventions for working with these very difficult to treat children. This book will be an enormous great gift to our field." Dr. Susan Coates Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University This is the first book to provide a wide range of leading-edge, step-by-step strategies for clinicians using EMDR therapy and adjunct approaches with children with severe dysregulation of the affective system. Written by an author internationally known for her innovative work with children, the book offers developmentally appropriate and advanced tools for using EMDR therapy in treating children with complex trauma, attachment wounds, dissociative tendencies, and compromised social engagement. The book also presents the theoretical framework for case conceptualization in EMDR therapy and in the use of the Adaptive Information Processing model with children. Principles and concepts derived from the Polyvagal Theory, affective neuroscience, attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, developmental neuroscience and the neurosequential model of therapeutics, which can greatly support and expand our understanding of the AIP model and complex trauma, are presented. The text also offers an original and pioneering EMDR therapy-based model to working with parents with abdicated caregiving systems. The model is directed at assisting parents in developing the ability for mentalization, insightfulness, and reflective capacities linked to infantís development of attachment security. A unique and innovative feature of this book is the masterful integration of strategies from other therapeutic approaches, such as Play therapy, Sandtray therapy, Sensorimotor psychotherapy, Theraplay and Internal Family Systems (IFS), into a comprehensive EMDR treatment maintaining appropriate adherence to the AIP model and EMDR therapy methodology. Key Features: Provides creative, step-by-step, ìhow-toî information about the use of EMDR therapy with children with complex trauma from an internationally known and innovative leader in the field Explores thoroughly the eight phases of EMDR therapy in helping children with attachment wounds, dissociative tendencies and high dysregulation Incorporates adjunct approaches into a comprehensive EMDR therapy while maintaining fidelity to the AIP model and EMDR therapy methodology Contains an original EMDR therapy-based model for helping parents with abdicated caregiving systems to develop metalizing and reflective capacities