This chapter describes an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing eating disorders (EMDR-ED) protocol, as integrated in the eight phases of the EMDR standard protocols. It is geared to treat the unique issues that arise when using EMDR therapy to treat either of the potential focuses of concern or parts of the disorder translated into modules. The aim of this chapter is to clarify when and how EMDR therapy can be a part of the broad-spectrum treatment of patients with an eating disorder. Existing treatments for eating disorders are not sufficiently effective and efficient. The chapter introduces experimental consisting of six potential modules and six procedures of target selection. The protocol is based on the transdiagnostic theoretical model of Fairburn and has shown positive results in clinical practice. Empirical validation is needed, and empirical results may necessitate adaptations in this protocol.

Migraine has been related to mental illness in the medical field for more than a century. The characteristics of migraine are head pain and neurological, gastrointestinal, and autonomic symptoms. A wide variety of treatments are available for migraine, including both medication and a variety of other therapies. Nonmedication treatments involve a lot of modalities such as behavioral therapy, diet modification, hypnotherapy, and biofeedback. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy sees chronic pain, including migraine pain, as involving a disturbing somatic component, combined with the emotional reaction to the pain that gets stored in the brain. The EMDR therapy for pain integrates the processing of pain-related events accompanied by the disturbing emotional and body sensations related with the pain. EMDR therapy includes the three-pronged protocol and an in-depth history of the client’s migraine and trauma. More research is needed to support this new protocol.

Eating disorders are a pervasive sociocultural phenomenon today, almost exclusively affecting the population of the western world, in particular adolescents and young women. This chapter describes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy protocol for the management of dysfunctional eating behaviors in Anorexia Nervosa (AN). The purpose of this protocol is to define a specific treatment with EMDR therapy for one of the possible expressions of eating disorders, that is, AN. It is based on the main theoretical contributions concerning the dynamics of eating disorders with particular focus on the risk factors involved in its onset and/or maintenance and a special emphasis on those connected with traumatic life events. The most relevant concepts related to the dynamics of AN explained in the protocol are individual risk factors, attachment wounds and traumatic experiences, dissociative table at mealtime, and parts work.

Body image refers to the image created in our minds regarding our own body, that is to say, the way in which we see ourselves. The application of the Rejected Self Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Protocol for Body Image Distortion in eating disorders is quite straightforward. It involves neutralizing the three main emotional defenses of rejection, shame, and worry and body image distortion defense that are blocking full awareness of the body and lie between the actual body image and the rejected self. The goals that lead to the therapeutic success are the following: identifying the body as one’s own; accepting the body as one’s own; processing the trauma contained in the rejected self, at both cognitive and emotional levels; substituting body image distortion for acceptance; learning to respectfully feel and take care of the body; and integrating this dissociative part that represents the rejected self and its defense.

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.