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9: The EMDR-Drawing Integration (EMDR-DI) Protocol: A Visual Approach to Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Dissociation, and Depressive States

DOI:

10.1891/9780826139665.0009

Authors

  • Bertino, Gabriella
  • Ostacoli, Luca
  • Carletto, Sara
  • Malandrone, Francesca

Abstract

For the treatment of patients with complex depressive disorders with comorbidities and often significant psychosomatic symptoms, additional treatment tools are often very helpful. Drawing is a useful way to represent trauma, supporting the differentiation between the adaptive and traumatized selves as a way to limit avoidance and dissociative reactions. It was first used to assist patients who were blocked in their ability to access traumatic material and who move between shut down and emotional arousal. Drawing was a less threatening way to first establish a sense of safety through body-based resources and then to enter the uncomfortable world of their traumatic experience. With the drawing as the image for the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) Assessment Phase, the rest of the assessment is accessed in the usual manner. Whenever a drawing is used, the Standard EMDR Protocol should be used later to be sure the material is fully reprocessed. This chapter describes the EMDR-Drawing Integration (EMDR-DI) Protocol and includes case studies and patients’ drawings.