EMDR Therapy Treatment for Grief and Mourning

The loss of a loved one can be very painful, with the mourner losing an important source of safety, connection, and life balance. Even when uncomplicated, bereavement can have a significant impact on the mourner. Traumatic circumstances can intensify the grief and complicate the mourning process. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, an evidenced based treatment for trauma, can help process the trauma of the loss and the obstacles that interfere with the grief and mourning process. In this book, Roger M. Solomon guides the EDMR therapist through the treatment process by understanding grief reactions and the mourning process, providing an overall model of EMDR treatment for grief and mourning, and highlighting how EMDR can help a mourner experience a positive sense of connection through heartfelt, meaningful memories. The author presents an integrative model for EMDR therapy treatment based on the Adaptive Information Processing Model (AIP), which guides EMDR therapy. Several models of grief and mourning that inform EMDR treatment and a discussion of the eight phases and three prongs (past, present, and future) of EMDR therapy are presented, with many case examples including transcripts of sessions, to illustrate treatment principles and clinical teaching points.

Autorentext

Roger M. Solomon, Ph.D., is a psychologist specializing in trauma and grief. He is the Program Director and on the Senior Faculty of the EMDR Institute, an EMDR Europe approved trainer, and teaches EMDR therapy internationally. He is a consultant to the US Senate and has provided services to numerous first responder agencies following traumatic incidents, including the FBI, Secret Service, NASA, and the US military. Dr. Solomon presents workshops on EMDR therapy with grief and mourning, complex trauma and dissociative symptoms, treating attachment issues, and the "Art" of EMDR therapy. Onno van der Hart, Ph.D., is a psychologist and psychotraumatologist, and until 2017 a psychotherapist. He is an emeritus professor of psychopathology of chronic traumatization. With Ellert Nijenhuis and Kathy Steele, he wrote the book The haunted self: Structural dissociation and the treatment of chronic traumatization (2006). Kathleen Martin, LCSW, EMDRIA Consultant and Trainer, ISSTD Fellow, is an international trainer on EMDR therapy and complex trauma. In her private practice in Rochester, New York, USA, she uses EMDR therapy extensively in her specialty of PTSD, trauma and dissociation, and teaches workshops in the area. She has published numerous articles and book chapters focused on treating complex trauma and dissociation.