EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology: Interventions to Enhance Embodiment in Trauma Treatment

by Arielle Schwartz, Barb Maiberger

This book is written to meet the growing interest in a synthesis of somatic psychology with EMDR Therapy as a comprehensive trauma treatment model. Interventions are presented as scripted protocols to enhance embodiment within the 8-phases of EMDR Therapy. This integrative treatment model teaches therapists how to increase the client’s capacity to sense and feel the body which is a necessary part of helping the client work through traumatic memories in a safe and regulated manner in order to facilitate lasting integration.

Grounded in the science of interpersonal neurobiology, therapists are guided to increase their own embodied awareness which provides a foundation for an attuned therapeutic rapport, a core component of successful trauma treatment. In all, readers will come away with advanced ways to help clients reclaim their lives from the costs of PTSD. 

Genres: Psychology, Counselling, Mental Health, Health, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

Published August 7, 2018

About the author

Arielle Schwartz PhD is a clinical psychologist practicing in Boulder, Colorado.

Reviews

[Laura Karr · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a therapist you NEED this book! There is brilliant science about embodiment, stress, and interpersonal neurobiology. There are a ton of interventions in this book that will be useful for you as a human and for your clients. There are interventions specific to Complex PTSD, attachment trauma, and chronic pain. There is a chapter on self care for therapists. You need this chapter. This book has been life changing for me as a therapist, as a trauma survivor, as someone who experiences headaches... If you are not including the body and somatic psychology in your practice, I'd like to invite you to learn from Arielle and Barb in this book. And if you already know and value somatic psychology - these interventions will be such a resource! I've learned how to get curious and notice my body which has changed everything and become my greatest tool as a therapist.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very practical text that offers myriad interventions for working through trauma somatically with EMDR. I really liked that it briefly and succinctly summarizes EMDR and somatic applications and then provides SO MANY useful scripts for providers to adapt and easily use in all the ways trauma gets complex and stuck. 🙌🏻 Many similar books, even those aimed at clinicians, seem to spend a lot of time explaining trauma and its therapies and only briefly describe how to actually work through it.

That said, this is definitely written for clinicians with a pretty good understanding of trauma and therapeutic work, and who are trained in EMDR. Aaaaand it can get a little repetitive and dry. I’m certain I’ll refer back to this often as a reference and starting point for creatively adapting interventions for my clients.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that includes background, theory and examples of application of these therapies and some very concrete exercises. I think I would like to come back to this when I have looked into EMDR specifically a bit more. I especially found some of the discussion of different traumas and how these therapies can be helpful insightful. Totally unrelated I appreciated the idea that recovery from misatunement is a healthy and necessary part of attachment.

[Louisa]

appreciated the detailed scripts/interventions at first but found it really repetitive after a while. think the last few chapters on cptsd/npd could have been structured better, but on the whole appreciate the book and the thought put into citing everything, not everyone does that

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all her books, this one is also packed with practical, excellent resources.

[Kerry Bell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not learn anything new and it took a long time to get to the point in each segment and chapter. There are more succinct ways of teaching and sharing knowledge.

[Jena · Rating 4 out of 5]

It provides a lot of info and scripts. It was just a dry read

[Lynsey Gleim Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful toolbox style book. Tons of helpful interventions with scripts and step by step instructions for those that like that kind of thing.

[Hayley Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content is so essential for all EMDR therapists. However I did find audiobook version voice to be quite robotic and hard to listen to at times.