Two Workshops on EMDR with Children, New Orleans

Day 1: Working with Dissociation

Join us for a transformative workshop led by Ana Gomez as we delve into the intricacies of EMDR therapy and dissociation in children. In this presentation, participants will gain invaluable insights into understanding and effectively addressing dissociation in children through the comprehensive framework of Ana Gomez's multimodal approach to EMDR therapy. This transtheoretical and integrative approach brings multiple modalities and theoretical orientations into the framework of EMDR therapy and the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model.

This presentation will guide participants through a comprehensive exploration of dissociative phenomena in children, examining its manifestations, underlying mechanisms, and therapeutic implications.

By blending theoretical insights, practical demonstrations, and interactive discussions, Ana Gomez will lead participants through a profound exploration of dissociation in children and the role of EMDR therapy in promoting resilience and healing. This workshop will equip you with the skills to recognize dissociative symptoms, assess dissociative states, and skillfully integrate EMDR therapy to facilitate healing and integration in your practice.

Objectives:

Clinicians will be able to:

1. Cite and identify the dissociative continuum: From inattentiveness to identity compartmentalization.
2. Identify essential elements in the assessment of dissociation.
3. Cite theoretical models that address dissociation in children.
4. Harnessing the adaptive information processing model of EMDR therapy to address dissociation
5. Cite EMDR and transtheoretical approaches that enhance stabilization, containment, and affect regulation: Polyvagal based interventions, play therapy, expressive arts therapies, Sandtray therapy, and parts work.
6. Utilize therapeutic strategies to cultivate safety, trust, and attunement to facilitate therapeutic alliance with dissociative children
7. Utilize advanced EMDR techniques for processing traumatic memories, working with ego states and the emerging dissociative system.
8. Utilize strategies to work with the internal conflict and inner relational choreographies.
9. Participate in experiential exercises to deepen understanding and application of EMDR interventions

This workshop is designed for those seeking to deepen their understanding of dissociation in children and enhance their therapeutic skills.

Day 2: The Storymaking Protocol

The story-making protocol (Gomez) can be a portal into memory networks harboring traumatic material in young children or, in general, children who need much closer companionship as they approach their stories of adversity. This protocol embraces the power of storytelling, weaving verbal, affective, and somatic narratives to facilitate healing and integration in children. The Story-making method invites the child's active participation in co-creating meaning and accessing the stories of trauma and adversity from a place of empowerment and resilience. This EMDR-based protocol has multiple levels of involvement, titration, and distance, as well as rich and theoretically sound procedural steps. During this presentation, EMDR clinicians will learn step by step how to move into processing phases with children that need the active involvement of the parent and the clinician, whether it is because of their age or their unique qualities. How to work with the parent to prepare the story prior to directly accessing the trauma with the child will be addressed. In addition, we will cover how to prepare to access the different levels of information processing, the cognitive, emotional, and somatic, as we co-create the story.

Even though this access route by no means is the only portal available to the young child to enter memories of trauma, it is one road that can highly support and make the accessing of traumatic material easier as well as playful and developmentally appropriate to young children. The story-making method incorporates expressive arts, Sandtray strategies, play therapy, puppet shows, and more. It borrows a few elements of the storytelling approach to EMDR therapy developed by Joan Lovett. However, the story-making protocol has significant differences, additions, and procedural steps that make it unique.

Objectives:

Clinicians will be able to:

1. Cite the theoretical framework of the Story-Making Protocol.
2. Utilize specific procedural steps with the parent initially and then with the child to move into processing phases with children who need the parent and clinician's active involvement and support.
3. Step-by-step guidance on implementing the Story-Making Protocol within the EMDR framework.
4. Harnessing the power of metaphor, imagery, and symbolism to facilitate narrative construction.
5. Adapting the protocol to meet the unique needs and cultural backgrounds of clients
6. Utilize the story-making protocol's procedural steps incorporating expressive arts, Sandtray strategies, play therapy, and puppet shows.
7. Case examples and clinical demonstrations illustrating the efficacy of the Story-Making Protocol in diverse clinical contexts.