Avoiding Retraumatization in Treatment when Working with Complex Trauma and Addictions

Integrating EMDR With Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa: A Single Case Study

“…An advantage of providing CBT-E before EMDR therapy is that it provides adequate history taking, grounding, and stabilization before beginning EMDR work on traumatic memories. This is in accordance with the recommendations of ED therapists such as McGee (2009), who cautioned about possible retraumatization with insufficient stabilization. CBT-E also provides successful experiences, expanding positive adaptive memory networks, which is very useful during EMDR processing of traumatic memories.…”

“…Moreover, dissociation in EDs can be considered as a way of coping with the traumatic experiences. Thus, symptoms are understood as a coping mechanism or a state change that also maintain the problem by providing "a sense of control" to the patients (Forester, 2009;Lidov, 2009;McGee, 2009). For such cases, trauma-focused treatment, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, may be an appropriate stand-alone treatment or might easily be integrated into other ED treatment.…”

“…It may target different aspects of the EDs, for example, by combining the standard EMDR trauma protocol with a focus on negative body image (Dziegielewski & Wolfe, 2000) or self-perception (Bloomgarden & Calogero, 2008). Targets can also include any of the common themes that underline ED symptoms, such as control, powerlessness, shame, vulnerability, worthlessness, dependency, competency, self, and body (McGee, 2009). Some specific protocols have also been developed for EDs (Shapiro, 2009;Seubert & Virdi, 2018;Zaccagnino, 2016).…”