"This volume is a welcome and excellent resource for all clinicians working with severely traumatized children." Francine Shapiro, PhD Founder, EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs "Over the past 15 years, Ms. Gomez has developed highly original and brilliant interventions for working with these very difficult to treat children. This book will be an enormous great gift to our field." Dr. Susan Coates Clinical Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry College of Physicians and Surgeons Columbia University This is the first book to provide a wide range of leading-edge, step-by-step strategies for clinicians using EMDR therapy and adjunct approaches with children with severe dysregulation of the affective system. Written by an author internationally known for her innovative work with children, the book offers developmentally appropriate and advanced tools for using EMDR therapy in treating children with complex trauma, attachment wounds, dissociative tendencies, and compromised social engagement. The book also presents the theoretical framework for case conceptualization in EMDR therapy and in the use of the Adaptive Information Processing model with children. Principles and concepts derived from the Polyvagal Theory, affective neuroscience, attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, developmental neuroscience and the neurosequential model of therapeutics, which can greatly support and expand our understanding of the AIP model and complex trauma, are presented. The text also offers an original and pioneering EMDR therapy-based model to working with parents with abdicated caregiving systems. The model is directed at assisting parents in developing the ability for mentalization, insightfulness, and reflective capacities linked to infantís development of attachment security. A unique and innovative feature of this book is the masterful integration of strategies from other therapeutic approaches, such as Play therapy, Sandtray therapy, Sensorimotor psychotherapy, Theraplay and Internal Family Systems (IFS), into a comprehensive EMDR treatment maintaining appropriate adherence to the AIP model and EMDR therapy methodology. Key Features: Provides creative, step-by-step, ìhow-toî information about the use of EMDR therapy with children with complex trauma from an internationally known and innovative leader in the field Explores thoroughly the eight phases of EMDR therapy in helping children with attachment wounds, dissociative tendencies and high dysregulation Incorporates adjunct approaches into a comprehensive EMDR therapy while maintaining fidelity to the AIP model and EMDR therapy methodology Contains an original EMDR therapy-based model for helping parents with abdicated caregiving systems to develop metalizing and reflective capacities

Maximizes treatment of childhood trauma by combining two powerful modalities This pioneering guidebook fully integrates the theoretical foundations and practical applications of play therapy and EMDR in order to maximize healing in in children with trauma. By highlighting the work of innovative EMDR therapists and play and expressive art therapists and their pioneering clinical work, the authors provide a fully integrated approach to using EMDR in a play therapy context while being faithful to both play therapy principles and the 8 phases of the EMDR standard protocol. This book provides in-depth discussions on how leading innovators integrate their modalities—TraumaPlay, sand tray, art therapy, Synergetic Play therapy, Child-centered and Developmental Play Therapy—with EMDR and includes real life examples of assessment, parent and child preparation, developing emotional resources for reprocessing trauma using EMDR in play or expressive therapy, and a comprehensive look at complications of dissociation in trauma processing and how to manage these. Corresponding to the eight EMDR phases are twelve interventions, comprised of a brief rationale, step-by-step directions, materials needed, case examples, and supporting visual materials. Key Features: Integrates EMDR and play therapy to create a powerful method for treating children suffering from trauma Includes contributions from dually credentialled EMDR clinicians and registered play therapists, art therapists, and sand tray practitioners Offers a fully integrated approach to EMDR and play therapy faithful to the eight phases of standard EMDR protocol and play therapy principles Includes a chapter on culturally sensitive EMDR and play using Latinx culture as the lens Describes how traditional play therapy creates an emotionally safe space for trauma work for children Provides hands-on play therapy interventions for each EMDR phase in quick reference format Delivers multiple interventions with rationale, step-by-step directions, materials required, case examples, and visual aids Foreward by Ana Gomez, leading author on the use of EMDR with children

Interest in eye movement desensitization response (EMDR) is growing rapidly. It isn't a substitute for therapy; it's a useful tool for the psychotherapist. Since incompletely processed, upsetting experiences are primary sources of children's emotional problems, EMDR is valuable for those who work with children. This book is for therapists who know how to do therapy and want to understand how EMDR can fit in with what they already do. A Jason Aronson Book

"...[This book contains] invaluable material for the child therapist with varied theoretical backgrounds to more confidently apply EMDR to children." -- Frances Klaff, for Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 3, Number 3, 2009 In this book the authors present an overview of how therapists can get started in conceptualizing psychotherapy with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) methodology through Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) theory. The focus of the book is to teach therapists to effectively use the entire EMDR protocol with young children. The first chapter provides a comprehensive overview of how to get started with EMDR after completing basic training. The book continues with chapters that detail the basic skills in using EMDR with children and then transitions to more advanced skills in using EMDR with children with specific diagnosis and presenting issues. They follow with a chapter summarizing the published evidence to date supporting the practice of EMDR with children. Data is then incorporated into a chapter summarizing their research on EMDR with young children in order to provide evidence of therapists' ability to adhere to the EMDR protocol with children, and to document their research findings about training therapists to use EMDR with children. Finally, they conclude the book with goals for the future of EMDR with children while encouraging therapists to consider conducting research in order to compel the practice of EMDR with children into the mainstream of child psychotherapy. It is a major task of the book to inspire therapists to begin thinking about conducting research and how important research is to therapists in order to validate and advance the practice of psychotherapy. In the end, the most significant goal of this book is to provide best practice for children who are in need of expert psychotherapy in order to change the trajectory of their lives. The hope is to provide guidance and support to therapists in order to launch them in their practice of EMDR. This is the art of treating children with EMDR.

Childhood can be an exciting time, full of joyous exploration, new skills, friends, and imaginative play. It can also be very frightening, especially when children have experiences that threaten their feelings of safety and well-being. Even common traumatic childhood events can deeply affect children's normal healthy development, their self-esteem, and their families. Many behavioral problems stemming from common traumatic events could require years of psychotherapy or medication. That is, they did -- until the advent of EMDR. Developed by psychologist Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s, EMDR had already helped thousands of adult clients when Joan Lovett experienced its healing power firsthand. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a comprehensive therapeutic approach that helps patients release disturbing thoughts and emotions that originate in traumatic experiences. Experiences can be traumatic in the commonly accepted sense -- abuse, disasters, violence -- but children may also perceive and respond to more ordinary events as very threatening. A playground accident, the loss of a loved one, school problems, or choking on a piece of popcorn can be a part of growing up. They can also be critical incidents that cause a child to view him- or herself as helpless or powerless, to become fearful, and to develop debilitating behavioral problems. In Small Wonders: Healing Childhood Trauma with EMDR, Joan Lovett, M.D., shares engaging clinical stories -- mysteries involving children who present her with puzzling and disturbing behaviors. She imaginatively focuses her knowledge of pediatrics, play therapy, and EMDR to alleviate the real-life ordeals of real-life children. Featuring a foreword by Francine Shapiro, Small Wonders is the most comprehensive and insightful book to explore the potential of EMDR for child therapy. This enlightening book is intended for parents who are concerned with having their children feel confident, for adults who want insights into the way the events of their childhood shaped their self-image, and for professionals who want to know more about EMDR and how it can be adapted to meet the special needs of traumatized children.

Treatment of abuse survivors is extremely challenging, whatever the modality. Clients may experience intense emotional abreactions during therapy, report horrifying memories, and become stuck processing their experiences.

But by working as a collaborative team, EMDR and family therapists can, together, strengthen the parent-child attachment bond and help to mend the early experiences that drive the child's behavior. This book, and its accompanying Parent Manual, are intended to serve as clear and practical treatment guides, presenting the philosophy and step-by-step protocols behind the Integrative Team Treatment approach, so both the family system issues and the child's traumatic past are effectively addressed. You need not be a center specializing in attachment trauma to implement this team model, nor must members of the team practice at the same location. With at least one fully-trained EMDR practitioners as part of the two-person team, any clinician can pair with another to implement this treatment approach, and heal children suffering from attachment trauma.

This volume introduces the most current research about the neural underpinnings of consciousness and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) in regard to attachment, traumatic stress, and dissociation. It is the first book to comprehensively integrate new findings in information processing, consciousness, traumatic disorders of information processing, chronic trauma and autoimmune compromises, and the implications of these data on the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model and EMDR treatment The text examines online/wakeful information processing, including sensation, perception, somatosensory integration, cognition, memory, language and motricity, and off-line/sleep information processing, such as slow wave sleep and cognitive memorial processing, as well as REM/dream sleep and its function in emotional memory processing. The volume also addresses disorders of consciousness, including coma, anesthesia, and other neurological disorders, particularly disorders of Type 1 PTSD, complex PTSD/dissociative disorders, and personality disorders. It delves into chronic trauma and autoimmune function, especially in regard to diseases of unknown origin, and examines them from the perspective of autoimmune compromises resulting from the unusual neuroendocrine profile of PTSD sufferers. The final section integrates all material to illustrate the tenets of the AIP model and the implication of this material with respect to current EMDR treatment, as well as techniques to render it more robust Key Features: Provides a neurobiological foundation that informs our understanding of human development, disorders of attachment, and information processing Examines biological underpinnings of EMDR and other psychotherapeutic modalities regarding successful treatment outcomes for attachment, stress, and dissociation Offers the latest research in neurosciences relevant to attachment, traumatic stress, and dissociation Explicates disorders as outcomes of chronically dysregulated, evolutionarily based, biological action systems Illustrates EMDR's sensorial input to the brain as a neural catalyst that can facilitate repair of dysfunctional neural circuitry Includes illustrative neural maps

"This excellent book contains many different scripts, applicable to a number of special populations. It takes a practical approach and walks therapists step-by-step through the EMDR therapeutic process. [Readers] will not be disappointed." Score: 93, 4 stars --Doody's Praise from a practicing EMDR therapist and user of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Scripted Protocols: "Kudos to...everyone who contributed to this important volume....[It] is an indispensable resource. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" --Andrea B. Goldberg, LCSW EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist EMDRIA Consultant-in-training Bloomfield and Newark, NJ This book serves as a one-stop resource where therapists can access a wide range of word-for-word scripted protocols for EMDR practice, including the past, present, and future templates. These scripts are conveniently outlined in an easy-to-use, manual style template for therapists, allowing them to have a reliable, consistent form and procedure when using EMDR with clients. The book contains an entire section on the development of resources and on clinician self-care. There is a self-awareness questionnaire to assist clinicians in identifying potential problems that often arise in treatment, allowing for strategies to deal with them. Also included are helpful past memory, current triggers and future template worksheet scripts. Key topics include: Client history taking that will inform the treatment process of patients Resource development to help clients identify and target their problems to regain control when issues appear overwhelming Scripts for the 6 basic EMDR Protocols for traumatic events, current anxieties and behaviors, recent traumatic events, phobias, excessive grief, and illness and somatic disorders Early intervention procedures for man-made and natural catastrophes EMDR and early interventions for groups, including work with children, adolescents, and adults Written workbook format for individual or group EMDR EMDR to enhance performance and positive emotion

This book is designed to assist you (the EMDR therapist) in your work with children. Incorporating coloring, drawing, and positive affirmations, this simple but powerful tool can be used to identify a child's memory targets, strengthen internal resources, and provide emotional grounding both in and outside of therapy sessions.