Course Description

The COVID pandemic was a life-transforming experience for all of us. The mental health profession swiftly learned to adapt to new circumstances and many of those clinical and technological adaptations still have implications for the practice of EMDR therapy today, including the necessity of self-care. Beyond the treatment of traumatic experiences in individuals with severe COVID infections, their family members, and health care providers, additional clinical challenges appeared as cases of Long COVID were documented. Since 2020, these phenomena have spurred a wealth of research studies, which will be reviewed in this presentation, addressing the lessons learned for clinical practice as well as knowledge regarding Long COVID and the potential for treatment with EMDR therapy.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to describe adaptations to the clinical practice of EMDR that have emerged or been confirmed since the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Participants will be able to discuss an overview of the research studies on the use of EMDR therapy in the COVID-19 context.
3. Participants will be able to assess the applicability of EMDR therapy for clients with long COVID-like symptoms.

Presenter(s)

Jenny Rydberg, M.Sc., Ph.D. candidate

Jenny Rydberg, M.Sc., is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist working in private practice with clients with complex trauma and dissociative disorders. She is a PhD candidate and a lecturer in psychology at the University of Lorraine in France. Additionally, Jenny is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research and an Associate Editor of the European Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. She provides consultation in psychotherapy integration in the field of attachment, dissociative, and posttraumatic disorders.