Course Description

Complex PTSD is associated with chronic or prolonged victimization, deprivation, and neglect. Many experts consider it to be a disorder of dysregulation—one that involves difficulties in regulating emotions, behaviors, relationships, attention and consciousness, self-perception, and somatic experience. This dysregulation leads to the development of affect phobias, insecure attachment styles, rigid defenses and avoidance patterns, high levels of dissociation, and the inability to access important internal resources. EMDR therapy adapted to meet the needs of Complex PTSD patients offers the promise of profound transformation and post-traumatic growth. In this plenary address, Deborah Korn, Psy.D. offers relevant concepts and guiding principles from the field of traumatic stress studies to facilitate EMDR case conceptualization and effective intervention. She also reflects on the lessons she has learned over the course of the past thirty years treating Complex PTSD patients across inpatient, partial hospitalization, and outpatient settings.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will be able to describe 3 historical, confounding factors which have contributed to the misunderstandings of dissociation and the dissociative disorders.
2. Participants will be able to explain why the associations that normally occur in EMDR therapy may be destabilizing to persons who experience dissociation of the personality.
3. Participants will be able to identify 3 therapist and training factors which support effective conceptualization and treatment of dissociation and the dissociative disorders.

Presenter(s)

Deborah Korn, Psy.D.

Deborah Korn, Psy.D., maintains a private practice in Cambridge, MA and is a faculty member at the Trauma Research Foundation and a senior faculty member at the EMDR Institute. Deborah has authored or coauthored many articles and chapters focused on EMDR therapy, including comprehensive reviews of EMDR therapy for Complex PTSD. She is the co-author of Every Memory Deserves Respect—a 2021 book about trauma, recovery, and EMDR therapy written for the layperson. She is an EMDRIA-approved consultant, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, and a past member of the EMDR Council of Scholars.