Month: February 2020

EMDR Professional Training™ presents Susan Brown’s online course “Part of me wants to quit, and part of me doesn’t”: An Integrative Developmental Approach to Addiction.

Addiction and Trauma:  A Close Relationship

Susan Brown discovered early in her career that if she was going to help clients make real changes in their lives, she had to address addiction.

Addiction and Trauma“If you’re dealing with addiction, you’re going to find trauma somewhere underneath,” says Susan of the landscape of trauma and its close relationship with addictive behaviors.

“You will often find that a client’s struggle with addiction is their best attempt to deal with a problem, and they’re not going to give up that solution, until they discover a better one,” says Brown.  “When EMDR therapy came along, it was like magic because we finally had something to treat underlying trauma.”

A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Board Certified Diplomate in private practice for more than thirty years in San Diego, CA, specializing in the treatment of complex developmental trauma and addictions, Susan Brown was a principal investigator in a pilot study utilizing an Integrated Trauma Treatment Program (ITTP) in the Thurston County Drug Court in Washington State combining Seeking Safety and EMDR therapy.  Susan has also co-authored two book chapters and several articles on the subjects of trauma, addiction, and personality disorder.  She has presented nationally on the use of EMDR therapy with co-occurring trauma and addiction and is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Basic Training Facilitator for the EMDR Institute and the Humanitarian Assistance Program.  As a therapist and instructor, Susan exudes compassion for the person trapped in addiction and provides pathways toward healing.

Online Course Now Open

Now available as an online course, Susan Brown puts two and two together in a seamless course titled, “Part of me wants to quit, and part of me doesn’t”:  An integrative developmental approach to addiction within an EMDR framework.  This intermediate to advanced course for fully trained EMDR clinicians develops skills in working with trauma, substance use disorder, and other maladaptive behavior patterns using EMDR therapy as the backbone for treatment.

Brown’s integrative neurodevelopmental approach within an EMDR therapy framework highlights the complex clinical landscape of addictions, with bio-psycho-social seeds originating in early development.  The course also explores the roles of attachment, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and Ego State “parts work” informed by the Internal Family Systems model (Schwartz), integrated with the eight-phase, three-prong EMDR protocol.

An Integrative Approach

Susan Brown emphasizes case conceptualization and treatment planning, safe preparation, identifying and gaining cooperation, and permission from ego state “protectors” before proceeding into deep trauma work.  She also explores target selection, timing for when to do what, and relapse prevention. Elements from addiction-specific approaches such as DeTUR™ (Popky), Positive Affect and Avoidance (Knipe), Feeling States (Miller), and Addiction Memory (Hase) are synthesized and integrated, not taught individually, within the approach.

Participants learn in the online course format how EMDR therapy, as a memory-based developmental approach, can address these highly treatment resistant behaviors and facilitate integrative healing.  When underlying trauma and attachment wounds are healed, life’s focus can shift from simply surviving to thriving.

Learning Objectives:

By completing this online course with videos and activities, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe “Addiction” as a complex neurodevelopmental disorder of attachment, affect dysregulation, response to adverse childhood experiences, learning, memory, and neuroplasticity.
  2. Identify three ways in which addictions may be viewed through the lens of maladaptive attachment, impacting neurodevelopmental challenges in brain development.
  3. Utilize the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study questionnaire to assist in developing an experience-specific, collaborative AIP treatment plan.
  4. Explain the concept of “parts of self”in the early stages of treatment in preparation for later reprocessing, emphasizing the “helpful intention” of parts to meet perceived needs across the lifespan.
  5. Describe the basic concepts of (IFS) Internal Family Systems (Schwartz), a trauma-informed ego-state approach, highlighting the parallels between EMDR/AIP and IFS and how to integrate the two models throughout the 8 phases and 3 prongs of EMDR therapy.
  6. Identify and assess clients’ addiction-specific preparation needs and resources to maximize treatment retention and relapse prevention.
  7. Utilize focused sets of bilateral stimulation to access and enhance the cooperative connection between parts of self to reduce polarization of goals.
  8. Predict future fears and avoidance of recovery activities.
  9. Demonstrate integration of existing AIP-informed addiction elements (DeTUR, Positive Affect/Feeling State, Avoidance and Addiction Memory) within EMDR therapy’s 8-phase, 3-pronged protocol (*Individual existing addiction protocols will not be taught).
  10. Create an addiction-specific AIP informed treatment plan including both rewarding and disturbing memory components, and clinically supported timing of targeting (what to do and when to do it).

Complete your Hours

Explore the close relationship between addiction and trauma by enrolling in this advanced training. Addictions and EMDR

Your Next Step
EMDR Therapy Basic Training 

If you are a mental health professional, you know EMDR Therapy as a beneficial therapy for a host of mental health concerns including PTSD, addictions, and other dysfunctional or maladaptive behaviors.

your steps towards emdr training

Now it’s your turn to complete EMDR Therapy Basic Training—your next step in your clinical training.

Register for Basic Training with EMDR Professional Training™. Our next course dates are now open for registration: Casper, Wyoming, beginning May 2020 and Redlands, California, beginning June 2020.

What Is Basic Training?

Basic Training is a three-weekend training course covering the foundational characteristics of EMDR Therapy. Within these three-weekends, you’ll gain understanding in both the history of EMDR Therapy and the mechanisms by which the theory works. Theory immediately moves into practice as you participate in practicums with facilitators who work through each step in a group setting. By the end of your training you will be able to identify the 3-pronged, 8-phased EMDR protocol, create treatment plans, and execute each step effectively.

EMDR Professional Training™ offers EMDR Basic Training in a three-weekend, all-inclusive course totaling 57 hours of continuing education credit. You’ll receive expert training with guaranteed opportunities to engage in smaller breakout groups of no more than eight people.  Consultation is part of the training, so no additional cost or time is required to complete your basic training. Everything you need for EMDR Certification through EMDRIA is included in these three training weekends. We’ll even teach you the process for Certification.

Experience Makes All the Difference

At EMDR Professional Training’s Basic Training weekends, you learn from two of the very best in the field.

CurtDr. Curtis Rouanzoin, Ph.D. holds 28 years clinical experience in EMDR Therapy and is internationally known as a premier trainer and speaker with extensive experience in complex cases relating to dissociative disorders.

Dr. Michelle Gottlieb, Psy, D., is an international speaker of the topic of EMDR Therapy and—as a practitioner of EMDR Therapy for the last 20 years—well known for presenting the principles of EMDR in an accessible style. Dr. Michelle Gottlieb

Dr. Rouanzoin and Dr. Gottlieb are both university professors with years of experience in both theory and practice.  You don’t want to miss this opportunity to hear from two of the best in the field.

Register now for Basic Training with EMDR Professional Training™:

Casper, Wyoming

University of Redlands, Redlands, CA

Take your Next Step!

Visit us at EMDR Professional Training for more
information and to register today!

Introduction to Working with Addictions with EMDR is now available online!

The Connection between Trauma and Addiction

interview chairs on stageClinicians who treat trauma within their practices or settings should expect to see addiction show up, whether they are trained and ready for it or not.  The connection between trauma and addiction is virtually inseparable.  However, many clinicians express fears about treating this population.  Many therapists express feelings of helplessness when faced with the complexities of addiction.  Unfortunately, behaviors associated with addiction tend to be unpredictable, and clients encounter dangers (both internally and externally) when caught in a cycle of addiction, recovery, and relapse.

Insights from the Experts

That’s why we chose to offer this informative interview with Susan Brown, LCSW, BCD, and Curt Rouanzoin, Ph.D.

Curt
Dr. Curt Rouanzoin shares important considerations regarding the treatment of addiction.

In this 90-minute interview format, Susan Brown and Curt Rouanzoin introduce and discuss important principles for clinicians who work with clients caught in the addiction cycle. They answer some key questions about addictions and other maladaptive dependency behaviors and the use of EMDR Therapy to treat them.

Challenging but not Impossible

Susan Brown
Gain insight from Susan Brown, LCSW, BCD, on addiction and EMDR Therapy.

Addictions, both substance and behavioral, are some of the most challenging clinical presentations of our time, necessitating novel treatment approaches that can address the many facets of addiction. Treatment at this level of complexity requires exploration of all possible doorways into healing. The good news is EMDR Therapy opens many of these doors, making recovery possible.

Client examples and personal stories are included to provide useful anecdote.  You’ll benefit from the insights of these two veterans who have spent their careers working with addiction.

Course Objectives

Course Objectives include the following:

  1. Identify at least three ways in which EMDR therapy targets and/or phases may be applied during the different stages of addiction: during acute use, in an inpatient (30- day) setting, and in an outpatient setting.
  2. Describe and apply at least three interventions during and/or immediately after a relapse.
  3. Identify at least two addiction-specific protocols that were developed as an adjunct to EMDR therapy.
  4. Explain the role of ego state (parts work) integrated within EMDR therapy’s standard protocol.

Now available in our online learning format, this course is for beginning to advanced practitioners of EMDR Therapy. Start this course today!

Go to “Introduction to Working with Addictions with EMDR Therapy” for more information and to register.