EMDR Mini-conference
April 30 and May 1, 2005 at Oakland's Preservation Park

Ego-State Therapy Interventions to Prepare Dysregulated,

Dissociative, & Attachment-Wounded Clients for EMDR

Presentation by Shirley Jean Schmidt, MA, LPC

Abstract

Dysregulated, dissociative, attachment-wounded clients can be especially challenging to work with. They’re often overwhelmed by painful emotions that are difficult to manage. They often feel like wounding from the past is happening right now. Stabilizing these clients well is essential for safe and effective EMDR. This workshop will introduce a collection of unique ego state therapy interventions from the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS), for stabilizing these clients. In the background section Shirley Jean will discuss the differences between attachment wounds and trauma wounds, and why that matters. She’ll offer a brief primer on parts of self and how they get triggered. She’ll discuss how we can predict EMDR when we know the intensity of client attachment wounds and degree of accessible adaptive information. Next, she’ll describe a simple protocol for mobilizing a team of vetted Resources, and for establishing a Special Safe Place for wounded parts to hang out. Then she’ll describe ways to talk directly to triggered wounded child parts (1) to welcome them; (2) to, attune, validate, and empathize with them; (3) to get them bonding with a Resource Team who can meet their emotional needs; (4) to orient them to present time; and (5) to reassure them that their perception of “reliving” an old trauma is just a harmless recording playing back. When these interventions are provided together, in the right order, they have a profound stabilizing effect—enough to neutralize the child part’s trigger. And when repeated over time, with more and more child parts, the client begins to feel more stable. Eventually clients will report triggering episodes happen less often, have less peak intensity, and resolve more quickly. Once a client is sufficiently stable, EMDR processing becomes an option. The workshop will include a few brief practice exercises and a video of a real therapy session.

Presenter Bio

Shirley Jean Schmidt, MA, LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor near Portland, Oregon. She was trained in EMDR in 1995. She’s a former EMDRIA-Approved Consultant. She began integrating EMDR with ego state therapy in the late 90s – inspiring her to develop a complimentary therapy approach, the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy (DNMS). She’s trained hundreds of therapists in the DNMS over the last 20 years. She recently expanded her model to include these powerful stabilizing interventions. She has published many professional articles in the EMDRIA Newsletter and given several presentations at EMDRIA conferences about integrating EMDR with ego state therapy. She holds the patent on the TheraTapper, an EMDR tapping device.

Time Line

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to…

1.       Describe how to guide clients to mobilize a team of vetted Resources.

2.       Describe how to guide clients to establish a Special Safe Place where wounded parts can rest and play.

3.       Describe how to directly dialogue with a wounded child part, to attune, validate, and empathize.

4.       Describe how to orient a wounded child part to present time.

5.       Describe how to reassure a wounded child part that her perception of “reliving” an old trauma is just a harmless recording playing back.

Content

Background Section:

This section will describe the difference between childhood attachment wounding and trauma wounding in terms of unmet developmental needs. It will explain how wounded child parts form during these wounding experiences, and how these parts of self get triggered in adulthood. It will touch on how the AIP model aligns with research into memory reconsolidation. Will include some discussion of how we can predict EMDR outcomes by understanding the intensity of client attachment wounds and degree of accessible adaptive information. By establishing a fully-embodied healing connection with an internal Resource Team, wounded child parts can heal attachment wounds, boosting accessibility to adaptive information.

Objective 1: Participants will be able to describe how to guide clients to mobilize a team of vetted Resources.

A robust Resource Team is essential for stabilizing wounded parts. The idea of Resourcing to prepare clients for EMDR, was introduced by Andrew Leeds (1998) and others followed (Fisher, 2001; Keissling, 2009; Korn & Leeds 2002; Manfield, 2010; Yoeli & Prattos, 2009). This presentation will teach a unique variation of this concept developed by Schmidt (2017). Clients are given a menu of options to assist them in mobilizing Resources—rated as GOOD, BETTER, and BEST. The BEST rating goes to Resource parts of self that deeply love and enjoy nurturing and protecting a loved one—like a child, an ailing person, pets, or plants. A BETTER rating goes to a Resource that’s a person the client has felt nurtured and supported by—like an aunt, uncle, grandparent, teacher, neighbor, etc.; or an inspiring person the client has personally observed caring for someone else—like a sibling’s music teacher or a childhood friend’s mother. A GOOD rating goes to a Resource that’s a public figure, celebrity, or fictional character that the client has felt especially inspired or supported by—like Oprah, MLK, Mother Theresa, Mrs Doubtfire or June Cleaver. Some clients can mobilize or a spiritual/mystical/archetype Resources—like Jesus or a guardian angel. Clients are encouraged draw from any of these categories, to mobilize the best Resource Team possible —at least two Resources, but three or more is preferred. To vet each Resource, clients are invited to ask themselves if it “would have been a good to be raised by someone” like this Resource. A YES answer is required for all Resources included in the Team. Once assembled, the Team is strengthened with alternating bilateral stimulation.

Objective 2: Participants will be able to describe how to guide clients to establish a Special Safe Place where their wounded parts can rest and play.

Shapiro (2017) proposed that clients envision themselves in a peaceful safe place that can calm the body now—like a place in nature. Pendulating between a trauma memory and this safe place, should help regulate painful emotions. While this can work well for clients who are not very dysregulated and dissociative, it may not be especially helpful for dissociated child parts. This workshop will describe how to guide clients to establish a SPECIAL SAFE PLACE, developed by Schmidt (2017), that’s very different. It’s an imaginary place for all wounded parts to rest and play between sessions. Its loving containment envisioned as a resort-like place with lots of fun things to do, like swimming, boating, biking, horseback riding, bowling, movie watching, etc. Clones of the Resource Team are spread all around the resort, so they’re there always available for whatever wounded parts need. This workshop will show how to help clients establish this in 3 steps: first by picturing the place, then picturing it with Resources everywhere, and then bringing in all their wounded parts. The Special Safe Place is strengthened with alternating bilateral stimulation.

Objective 3: Participants will be able to describe how to directly dialogue with a wounded child part, to attune, validate, and empathize.

This workshop will explain how to invite a wounded part forward, to approach the Resource Team. It will detail how to welcome a wounded part, getting her age, mood, and story, and how to listen with empathic attunement. It will show how to direct wounded parts to look to the Resource Team for emotional support. As the Resources provide an abundance of validation, understanding, and loving support, upset child parts begin to feel an embodied sense connection to them, which has a calming effect. (Schmidt, 2017)

Objective 4: Participants will be able to describe how to orient a wounded child part to present time.

Many wounded child parts have the misperception that they’re in a child’s body, living in their childhood home when they were small and powerless. This workshop will describe a number of ways to help orient wounded parts to present time—to help bring them out of their dissociative trance—including how to help child parts discover the power that comes with being in a grown-up body now. This helps wounded parts feel much safer. (Schmidt, 2017)

Objective 5: Participants will be able to describe how to reassure a wounded child part that her perception of “reliving” an old trauma is just a harmless recording playing back.

This workshop will explain how the brain makes recordings of significant wounding events while they’re happening—recordings that can play back later. A triggering event in adulthood can press PLAY on an old recording. That can evoke all the same painful emotions that were felt during an old wounding event (that’s been triggered). The intensity of the triggered emotions can create the illusion that the old experience is actually happening right now. We’ll introduce an intervention for helping wounded parts understand why it FEELS like the past is happening, so they can begin to see they’re just reacting to a harmless old recording. When wounded parts aer bonded with the Resources, oriented to present time, and fully understand a recording is harmless, their dissociative trance is broken. This leads to a profoundly stabilizing shift. (Schmidt, 2017)

Fisher, J. (2001) Modified EMDR Resource Development & Installation Protocol.  Unpublished paper posted on her website  http://www.janinafisher.com/pdfs/modemdr.pdf  

Keissling, R. (2009). Resource Strengthening. In M.Luber (Ed.), EMDR Scripted Protocols: Basics and special situations. (pp.85-86). New York: Springer Publishing

Korn, D.L., & Leeds, A.M. (2002). Preliminary evidence of efficacy for EMDR resource development and installation in the stabilization phase of treatment of complex posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, (12), 1465-1487.

Manfield, P. (2010) Dyadic Resourcing: Creating a foundation for processing trauma.  CreateSpace.

Leeds, A. (1998).  Lifting the burden of shame: Using EMDR resource installation to resolve a therapeutic impasse.  In P. Manfield (Ed.) Extending EMDR. New York: Norton.

Schmidt, S.J. (2017). Ego State Therapy Interventions to Prepare Your Most Wounded, Belligerent, and Dissociative Clients for EMDR. http://www.emdr-prepwebinar.com An EMDRIA-Approved, on-line, on-demand, webinar, for 10 EMDR Credits. DNMS Institute.

Yoeli, F. R., & Prattos, T. (2009). The EMDR-accelerated information resourcing (EMDR-air) protocol. In M. Luber (Ed.), EMDR Scripted Protocols: Basics and special situations (pp.31-45). New York, NY: Springer.

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