Course Description

To treat addiction, treat trauma. Most clients in behavioral health care have experienced trauma. Research supports the conceptualization of addictive responses as a symptom of unresolved trauma and adverse life events. Shapiro (1994) pioneered this concept almost thirty years ago, in her article with Vogelmann-Sine and Sine demonstrating the use of EMDR therapy to treat addiction. The case she made combined with the next 30 years of research on EMDR therapy and addiction encourages us to see EMDR therapy as an effective front line trauma-focused solution for this chronic, relapsing disorder. This research base helped generate the Palette of EMDR Interventions in Addiction (PEIA) (Markus & Hornsveld, 2017), which describes fifteen EMDR therapy interventions that can be used to treat addiction, and the MET(T)A Protocol (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Addictions) (Dansiger et al., 2020) which proposes EMDR therapy as the central therapeutic modality in an addiction treatment setting.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to demonstrate the need for a trauma-focused solution to treat addiction.
2. Participants will be able to analyze Shapiro, Vogelmann-Sine, & Sine’s (1994) groundbreaking article on using EMDR therapy to treat addiction and discuss how it has influenced the research and practice of the last 30 years.
3. Participants will be able to illustrate how to apply the Palette of EMDR Interventions in Addiction (PEIA) and the MET(T)A Protocol in clinical practice.

Presenter(s)

Stephen Dansiger, Psy.D., MFT

Stephen Dansiger, Psy.D., MFT, is the creator and founder of the MET(T)A Protocol (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Agencies), which utilizes Buddhist psychology and EMDR therapy to create an agency’s primary clinical practice system. He is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Certified Therapist who provides EMDR Training and Advanced Topic workshops as Senior Faculty for The Institute for Creative Mindfulness. He is the co-author (with Jamie Marich) of EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care and Healing Addiction with EMDR therapy: A Trauma-Focused Guide. In addition to maintaining a private practice in Los Angeles, he presents and teaches internationally.