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3: EMDR Therapy Protocol for Eating Disorders

DOI:

10.1891/9780826194725.0005

Authors

  • Seijo, Natalia

Abstract

This chapter explains the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy protocol for eating disorders, detailing everything the clinician must take into consideration in order to proceed step by step throughout the eight phases of treatment. The goal is to process those traumas and adverse experiences that are the foundation of these disorders, using the artichoke metaphor: working layer by layer from the outside in. Each and every layer holds a part, a defense, and a trauma or adverse life experience, as specified in the part/defense/trauma system. Once the part is named and the defense is identified, it is possible to reach the targeted event/trauma and process it with the standard EMDR protocol. As these events are processed, clients integrate the parts of their inner world. This will be reflected directly in an improvement in their relationship with food and, as a result, the disorder will improve.