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Europe's largest psychedelic conference

In April 2023 we presented our research at Breaking Convention in Exeter. With only a half hour slot, we decided to use footage from our collaboration with Scott Hill, author of Confrontation with the Unconscious: Jungian Depth Psychology and Psychedelic Experience (Muswell Hill Press), to demonstrate the use of the somatic bridge to identify subconscious material that has been activated by psychedelic therapy.  We also show the three-pronged approach of EMDR in action to integrate psychedelic material. Enjoy!

Click here to read our most recent publications on PsyA-EMDR:

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Poster presented at the EMDR UK conference 2024:

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'EMDR as a stabilisation intervention for psychedelic induced psychosis'

Article: Psychedelic assisted EMDR therapy (PsyA-EMDR) – A memory consolidation approach to psychedelic healing

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Abstract

As access to psychedelic therapy is rolled out, there is a need to develop comprehensive preparation and integration protocols, particularly to support individuals with an impaired capacity to self-regulate. Moreover, there is an immediate need to develop comprehensive, trauma-informed harm reduction and risk minimalisation models as illegal, underground psychedelic therapy rapidly expands.

 

This article outlines a 12-session protocol for psychedelic-assisted eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (PsyA-EMDR), where the 8-phases are utilised to enhance the preparation and integration stages of this ground-breaking psychotherapeutic intervention. Because the memory consolidation model of EMDR is suited to support complex post-traumatic stress disorder (cPTSD), it is proposed that it would also work well in supporting those experiencing regressed ego states as well as the somatic dysregulation that is often caused during work with psychedelics. This trauma-informed framework focusses on stabilisation, resourcing, tolerance testing, and embodiment before individuals receive any psychedelic treatments.

Case Study: EMDR as a preparation and integration tool in psychedelic-assisted therapy

 

Abstract

This case study illustrates the use of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy as a tool for preparation and integration of non-ordinary states of consciousness. It provides an account of work from the field of psychedelic-assisted EMDR therapy (PsyA-EMDR) and explores how the eight phases can be adapted to optimise psychedelic healing. The client attended six preparatory EMDR sessions, a psilocybin treatment in the Netherlands, followed by six sessions of EMDR to facilitate integration of the psychological material that emerged at the retreat. Key themes of set (mindset) and setting, resourcing, working with the transpersonal content, and bridging into the psychedelic matrix are explored. The adaptive information processing (AIP) model is used to conceptualise the process throughout.

Poster presented at the EMDR UK conference 2024:

'Exploring the

potential of
psychedelic assisted EMDR therapy
as a psychedelic preparation and integration tool.'

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