To treat addiction, treat trauma. Most clients in behavioral health care have experienced trauma. Research supports the conceptualization of addictive responses as a symptom of unresolved trauma and adverse life events. Shapiro (1994) pioneered this concept almost thirty years ago, in her article with Vogelmann-Sine and Sine demonstrating the use of EMDR therapy to treat addiction. The case she made combined with the next 30 years of research on EMDR therapy and addiction encourages us to see EMDR therapy as an effective front line trauma-focused solution for this chronic, relapsing disorder. This research base helped generate the Palette of EMDR Interventions in Addiction (PEIA) (Markus & Hornsveld, 2017), which describes fifteen EMDR therapy interventions that can be used to treat addiction, and the MET(T)A Protocol (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Addictions) (Dansiger et al., 2020) which proposes EMDR therapy as the central therapeutic modality in an addiction treatment setting.

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Presented By:
Stephen Dansiger, Psy.D., MFT