EMDR Therapy and Anxiety Go With That Magazine™️ Issue
We invited several authors to write about “EMDR therapy and Anxiety” in the Winter 2024 Go With That Magazine™️ issue. We are sharing Dr. Jennifer Fee’s article here, and EMDRIA members can access all other articles and issues in the Go With That Magazine™️.
A Three-Pronged Approach to Treating Anxiety with EMDR Therapy
Excerpt:
“The experience of anxiety exists on a continuum of mild sensations at one end and a crippling anxiety disorder on the other. Helpful anxiety warns us that danger is present and protects us from certain harm.
…
The idea that anxiety is a messenger pointing us to something important dovetails nicely with the standard three-pronged EMDR therapy protocol. Specialized EMDR therapy protocols are derived from this overall framework that past experiences, present situations or triggers, and future actions are all important realms for target selection. A treatment plan for anxiety may follow the standard protocol as outlined by Shapiro (2018) by reprocessing targets by the first, then worst, most recent, and finally, future projection. An alternative treatment plan is to use the Reverse Protocol (Adler-Tapia, 2012) where future oriented targets are processed first, followed by present, and then finally past targets. Adler-Tapia argues that the Reverse Protocol is helpful for clients overwhelmed by the prospect of processing past trauma and that it offers a way to avoid pausing EMDR therapy or extending the Preparation Phase. Additionally, the Reverse Protocol is suitable for some clients with anxiety, particularly those facing an imminent future event with overwhelming dread.
When creating a treatment plan for someone whose primary complaint is anxiety symptoms, I find it helpful to sequence targets based on the concept of what the anxiety is trying to point the client toward. Let the message the anxiety is trying to convey help guide your EMDR therapy treatment planning.
Clients are our best teachers as we strive to improve as clinicians. While all my clients have taught me important lessons, these three helped me to understand the need to zero in on either the past, present, or future prong of the three-pronged protocol when it comes to treating anxiety with EMDR therapy.”
Click Here to Access Fee’s Full Article
This issue also includes the following articles:
- EMDR Therapy Treatment of Anxiety Disorders, Explanation of the Basic Protocol and Case Conceptualization by Priscilla Marquis, Ph.D.
- EMDR Phase 1 and Assessment of OCD Subtypes: Meta OCD, Existential, Relational, and Health-Related Concern OCD by C. Paula Krentzel, Ph.D. and Jennifer Tattersall, LCSW
- EMDR Case Conceptualization for Fear of Flying in the AANHPI Populations by Sherry Yam, LCSW with contribution from
- Merrill Powers, LCSW
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Additional Resources
If you are a therapist interested in the EMDR training:
- Learn more about EMDR at the EMDRIA Library
- Learn more about EMDR Training
- Search for an EMDR Training Provider
- Check out our EMDR Training FAQ
If you are EMDR trained:
- Check out EMDRIA’s Let’s Talk EMDR Podcast
- Check out the EMDRIA blog, Focal Point
- Learn more about EMDRIA membership
- Search for Continuing Education opportunities
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