For Therapists: Referring Clients to EMDR (Part 2)
If you have not read part 1 of this blog posts series, access the first post here. In this post, I’ll talk about how EMDR can be utilized as an adjunct resource for clients so that we can enhance the therapeutic process by merging the strengths of EMDR with the strengths of talk therapy.
Explaining EMDR to Clients and Resources
As a clinician who is not trained in EMDR and is not familiar with the ins and outs of EMDR, how do you explain it to clients in a way that makes sense? Luckily, there are a lot of resources on the EMDR International Association website that can help you out. Remember, it’s not your job to explain in detail the mechanics of EMDR--leave that to the EMDR therapist. An overview of EMDR might look like this:
“EMDR is an approach shown to be helpful in decreasing emotional distress around disturbing events such as your car wreck, break in etc. When these disturbing events are stored in the brain, they are oftentimes left undigested and stuck meaning the same thoughts, feelings, body sensations, images, etc. can come up and cause distress. EMDR seems to allow these disturbing memories to digest properly and lessen distress. If this is something you might be interested in, I can give you more information and help you get an EMDR practitioner on board with your treatment. Does this sound like something you might be interested in?”
Online Education Resources
Prior to starting EMDR, I give clients the following information provided by EMDRIA to outline the 8 phase approach of EMDR and allow them to ask any questions they may have. When referring, it can be a helpful tool to allow clients to look over before contacting an EMDR practitioner, that way they are prepared to ask the practitioner any questions and voice concerns.
Additionally, EMDRIA provides a Youtube video that many clients will find helpful when thinking about adding EMDR to their treatment plan.
How to Collaborate with an EMDR Practitioner
Good news; you can continue talk therapy with your client while they receive EMDR from an outside EMDR practitioner. There are lots of creative ways to minimize overlap and allow the talk therapy and EMDR to nicely compliment one another. One way is to be in frequent communication with the EMDR therapist to delineate boundaries around the therapeutic work. Set up some scheduled calls with the other counselor and let your client know the boundaries between the therapeutic work they are doing with you and the other counselor.
I’ve worked with counselors specializing on nervous system regulation strategies, yoga, or solution focused therapies while I do EMDR processing with our mutual clients, that way they are equipped with great tools from their talk therapy sessions while simultaneously engaging in trauma processing. See how that can really speed things along?
We can’t completely erase the possibility of overlap, but it can be minimized with frequent communication between the therapists.
Another way to structure EMDR and Talk Therapy with different therapists is to find a way to hold joint sessions every now and again. Imagine holding your session with your client with the EMDR therapist on tele health conducting a reprocessing session. Or perhaps having both counselors in the room. There are lots of ways to get creative so the client can benefit from the rapport with their talk therapist and the healing benefits of EMDR.
If you have questions or want to consult about a client who you might think might be a good fit for EMDR, please reach out.
Authored by: Anna Zapata, LPC