Episode 57: Interview with Dr. Morrissey

Podcast episode of Notice That Podcast where Jen and Melissa conduct an interview with Dr. Morrissey on EMDR with clients with TBI.

Resource Abstract

“Question 1: Tell us about EMDR and TBI. What kind of results are reasonable to expect? We’d also love to hear about the spectrum of TBI and how this affects the effectiveness of EMDR?

Answer 1: Many times when I mention TBI to clients, they automatically assume the most serious cases (in a coma and then relearning basic abilities). I have tried EMDR on a couple clients with severe TBI from this population and had little success. However, there’s other modalities that seem to help. Cereded use with EMDR to help moderate the changes and anxieties has been helpful. It helps with mild to moderate TBI- mild being minor concussions and moderate being cumulative minor head injuries. With TBIs, I like to use the metaphor of a beaver dam. There’s many logs, sticks and leaves that are used to prevent the water (the flow of neuron communication) from occurring. With TBI, we want to be very careful to not overwhelm the system by bringing in a ‘bulldozer’ and trying to clear out everything at once. Their system is already overwhelmed and flooded from the TBI. We want to stand at the side of the river and slowly remove a couple leaves and sticks, and make sure we aren’t doing it invasively. So I definitely approach TBI differently than I would standard EMDR. ”

—Description from publisher

Resource Access

Open Access

Savage, J. & Sundwall, M. (Hosts). (2021, Aug 14). Episode 57: Interview with Dr. Morrissey. In Notice That Podcast. Patreon. http://emdr-podcast.com/episode-57-interview-with-dr-morrissey/