The issue of the impaired psychologist has generated increasing interest in recent years. Many other professional groups such as doctors, nurses, and lawyers have established formalized programs for identifying and aiding distressed colleagues. An ad hoc committee was established in 1981 by the American Psychological Association, and this committee is in the process of developing a program for consideration by the Board of Professional Affairs. This article reviews some of these efforts. A survey of each state licensing board and psychological association was conducted to try to determine what regulations and options exist for handling impaired psychologists. The survey found a wide variation in state law. All laws contained provisions for revoking licenses of psychologists, and most detailed hearing (due process) procedures. Over half had made provision for reinstatement of license; however, few states detailed any procedure for remediation. Of the state psychological associations who responded, none had a program for impaired psychologists, although a number of states were in the process of developing programs. Guidelines and ideas for such program development are offered.

EMDR is a comprehensive psychotherapy approach that is compatible with all contemporary theoretical orientations. Internationally recognized as a frontline trauma treatment, it is also applicable to a broad range of clinical issues. As a distinct form of psychotherapy, the treatment emphasis is placed on directly processing the neurophysiologically stored memories of events that set the foundation for pathology and health. The adaptive information processing model that governs EMDR practice invites the therapist to address the overall clinical picture that includes the past experiences that contribute to a client's current difficulties, the present events that trigger maladaptive responses, and to develop more adaptive neural networks of memory in order to enhance positive responses in the future. The clinical application of EMDR is elaborated through a description of the eight phases of treatment with a case example that illustrates the convergences with psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and systemic practice.

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The standard protocol of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has been well established as an efficacious brief treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addressing past, present, and future aspects of a traumatizing event. This article provides instruction in the administration of the EMDR Life Stress Protocol, which targets a significant recent experience or a life scenario that is not necessarily remarkable as a stand-alone event (getting up every morning with dread, feeling anxious about leaving the house) and which causes distress and impaired function such as has been commonly reported during the COVID-19 crisis. This protocol involves minor but significant modifications within EMDR therapy’s standard procedures. It uses the present-day experience as the Target Memory while accessing briefly, the memory network of historical experiences that inform the client’s reactions to their present circumstances. Successful processing is immediately followed by a Future Template to generate an alternative pattern of response, optimizing the client’s capacity to respond adaptively to continued life demands. The EMDR Life Stress Protocol differs from EMDR’s various recent events protocols, which seek to reduce posttraumatic symptoms following a recent traumatic event or crisis. Those protocols focus on the critical incident and ancillary events, and typically do not intend to activate memory networks of related historical experiences. The article describes case conceptualization to offer a rationale for this approach and provides a detailed description of this protocol, illustrated with case examples, highlighting its application both as a psychotherapy approach and as a brief intervention.

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