Presenter: Barry Litt, LMFT

Approved for 14 EMDRIA Credits

The Marriage of EMDR and Ego State Theory in Couples Therapy

This workshop will focus on treatment of challenging couples who often present with poor interpersonal boundaries, mutual and sometimes hostile dependency, and reliance on blame and projection. One or both partners may experience ego state conflict. Ego state conflict can dominate relational patterns even in clients without a trauma history. By augmenting EMDR with the explanatory power and clinical inventiveness of ego state theory, couples therapy can be brought to new levels of efficacy. On day one, participants will learn about the relational nature of the Self and the challenges of differentiation, intergenerational family dynamics that contribute to ego fragmentation, and manifestations of ego state conflict (tertiary dissociation) in couples therapy. On day two, participants will learn to assess the interlocking of negative cognitions of client couples and implement strategies to contract for individually focused EMDR, the risks and benefits of conjoint EMDR, as well as learn a model of EMDR treatment planning that describes target selection and salience.Finally, participants will learn a progression of techniques to control & focus desensitization within the optimal zone of arousal.