Adjunct EMDR Therapy

EMDR as adjunct therapy

We’ve all had those moments in therapy where we feel stuck or hit a roadblock. It can be discouraging for both the client and the therapist.

In those moments, it can be very helpful to collaborate with an EMDR therapist to get things unstuck and moving forward again. That is what Adjunct EMDR Therapy is – a time-limited, focused, collaborative approach between the client, primary therapist, and an EMDR therapist to clear out the roadblock so treatment can get back on track.

I partner with primary therapists and their clients to address specific therapy goals identified by the primary therapist and client. This typically involves using EMDR to target specific client memories, images, triggers, body sensations, fears, losses, or limiting beliefs that are interfering with the client making progress in therapy. By having clearly defined goals, brief adjunct EMDR can accelerate progress in traditional therapy, help the client and the primary therapist to resolve stuck points, and enrich their ongoing work.

Typically, adjunct therapy is short-term (4-12 extended sessions) with well-focused goals and targets for EMDR reprocessing. These goals and targets are defined in collaboration with the primary therapist and client. Some examples of this type of work include using EMDR to target:

• post-traumatic stress symptoms interfering with functioning and/or maintaining sobriety

• phobic reactions limiting quality of life

• nightmares interfering with sleep

• fear reactions to specific environmental triggers

• memories of a partner’s affair hindering marital therapy

• disturbance linked to recent events such as accidents, assaults, conflict, or losses

• disturbing body sensations with medically-unexplained origins

Adjunct therapy does not replace or interrupt ongoing therapy. Rather, it is a supplement to the primary therapeutic relationship, allowing the client to continue to work with their primary therapist. The client will be asked to sign a release of information form so the primary therapist can reach out to me to discuss the referral, determine ‘goodness-of-fit,’ define a customized treatment plan for adjunct EMDR, and identify a method for ongoing communication between the two therapists for care coordination purposes.

Adjunct EMDR Therapy is scheduled in an intensive format (extended sessions, half-day intensive, multi-day intensives).