en route to present at EMDR Canada...

My goal was to write this post before my trip to Canada, so I am going to say that I made my deadline as I am still in US territory as I fly toward Calgary... there has been more progress in the use of the MET(T)A Method at Refuge Recovery Centers, and the list of those clinicians and treatment centers who are interested in the model continues to grow. The initial response to my new book (coauthored by Jamie Marich) has made it more clear that this is the right direction to take EMDR therapy on its own, but also emboldens our efforts at the Center to provide an improved addiction treatment experience to clients, as well as to staff.

When I present on Sunday, I will be highlighting some of the case examples from Refuge, and not just case examples of clients but also examples of the effect on therapists who are trained in this therapy and who work on a team using this method. So far I have not had any pushback or lost any clinicians due to our using this method of treatment. In fact, as we have accessed so far trainees from Antioch and USC, with other colleges to follow including Pepperdine and Pacific Oaks, potential trainees are seeking us out because they hear what we are doing. Some are aware only of the Buddhist mindfulness aspect, others only of the EMDR therapy aspect, and others of the whole of the method. New cover letters and resumes of those who want to train with us come in every week. Those trainees who have signed on and worked with us have either learned and implemented new skills or deepened already developed skill sets. For instance, one of our therapists was a very experienced yoga teacher who had some mindfulness background related to yoga practice, and now has a dedicated Buddhist mindfulness practice and an ability to share that with clients. She also has become a very effective EMDR therapist, drawing on trauma education in school, and then ongoing training, consultation and supervision at Refuge.

And then there is the team aspect. The clinical team works very closely together using the language of EMDR therapy and trauma treatment as it relates to addictions. We come from the premise that all clients are receiving Phases One and Two of EMDR for certain, and we talk about how to support the client's continued trauma recovery journey. So far what we have noticed as a team is that this common language and set of goals makes us much more effective. One signpost of possible effectiveness is that a vast majority of our clients ask to stay longer in treatment than they originally signed on for. Therefore, they might have increased time in a contained and supportive environment to get to and through some of their trauma work while still in treatment.

I am looking forward to sharing this all with the conference attendees. And yes, I am looking forward to driving through a national park to get to the conference center in Banff...

We are starting our descent... I will have more to say from the conference and after the conference... Until then...

EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care - #2

I am so grateful that two of the first readers of EMDR and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care were Trudy Goodman and Jack Kornfield, and that they were happy to endorse our work...

"Thorough and skillful. This unique wedding of EMDR, mindfulness, and trauma care offers rich practical wisdom that is truly helpful for clinicians and counselors."
- Trudy Goodman PhD, and Jack Kornfield PhD

When Jamie and I started writing the book, we were committed to creating not just a list of exercises, or a quick scan of the role of mindfulness in trauma care, but rather what amounted to a combination of a manifesto, a guidebook, a deep inquiry into the mindful elements of EMDR therapy, and a reinvigorating of the standard 8 Phase Protocol of EMDR through a mindful retelling in the community of practitioners. Our feeling continued throughout our writing and remains that this work may help many to find their way into and through EMDR therapy, and that many therapists will be inspired to provide the therapy with this integrated approach.

So far those who have review copies of the book include EMDR therapists, EMDR theoreticians, trauma therapists and theoreticians, doctors, yoga teachers, somatic experiencing practitioners, dharma teachers and mindfulness instructors.  So far, it seems the book is resonating across these communities. If that continues to be the case, Jamie and I cannot help but be grateful for all those experiences and training that helped us to reach this point. As always, the hope is that the truth of suffering is met with the second, third and fourth truth of the identification of the cause, the cure and the prescription. Mindfully applied EMDR therapy and mindfulness based stabilization and preparation seem to hold a key.

Pre-Orders of EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care can be made directly through Springer Publishing or through Amazon.

EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care - #1

At the end of Clinical Dharma: A Path for Healers and Helpers, I write about the journey I have taken recently with Dr. Jamie Marich, where we have walked steadily, quickly and resolutely toward the complete integration of Buddhist psychology, mindfulness and EMDR therapy. That journey is anything but complete, but it now has its own guidebook. EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care is everything Jamie and I wanted it to be... a review of mindfulness including the history and specifics of the Buddha's approach, a succinct description of and a deep commitment to the Adaptive Information Processing Model (AIP) and the original 8 phase protocol of Francine Shapiro's formulation of EMDR therapy, a manifesto declaring how critical this integration of EMDR and mindfulness is for our times, and a handbook and guidebook for those clinicians seeking to develop their own mindfulness practice and that of their clients in the service of relieving their suffering through mindfully applied EMDR therapy. To say I am excited about this book is a drastic understatement.

It was less than two years ago that I had the brainstorm that I should look into rekindling and deepening my relationship with Jamie, and to seek her counsel and ask for the opportunity to possibly join the faculty of her Institute for Creative Mindfulness as an EMDR Trainer. As luck would have it, she was thinking similar thoughts. This all coincided with my belief that if we trained all our clinicians at Refuge Recovery Centers in EMDR therapy, that we would provide the best possible care, by taking trauma informed one step further and becoming trauma focused. That very quickly grew into the MET(T)A Method, and here we are now. The MET(T)A Method is in full swing at Refuge Recovery Centers, some other centers are looking at what we are doing, we have become the subject of a USC research study, and now our book EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care brings our thinking and methods out to the general clinical public.

I will continue to reflect upon this book and the journey it creates on my blog here, as well as on podcasts, at live events and any other opportunities I have to connect... May all be beings be at ease...

The MET(T)A Method - Updates for EMDR Canada

It has been about a year now since Noah Levine and Refuge Recovery Centers gave me the go ahead to begin implementing my vision for a new approach to addictions treatment, now known as the MET(T)A Method. My thought was that with our having already established Buddhist Mindfulness as the base and foundation of the program, that integrating EMDR Therapy as the front line clinical intervention would be a natural fit. At that time I also started working on my upcoming co-authored book with Dr. Jamie Marich on EMDR and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care, within which are many of the principles, theoretical underpinnings and practical activities embedded in the MET(T)A Method. Finally, through both meditative consideration and practice in the field, I noticed that a significant aspect of the method should be that we look at the work of the agency as a whole using the 8 Phase Protocol and Adaptive Information Processing Model (AIP) of EMDR therapy as the way to vision, frame, evaluate, plan and deliver treatment. I had the opportunity to present these ideas and some of what has been gleaned from our experience at the 2016 EMDRIA Conference in Minneapolis. Having had the opportunity to present again at the 2017 Evolution of Addiction Conference, and having been asked to do the same at the 2017 EMDR Canada Conference in Banff this April, I now have the opportunity to provide some updates as the model and method have progressed.

At Refuge Recovery Centers, we have since doubled the number of trained EMDR therapists on staff to 10 (11 if you include myself), and that includes our founder Noah Levine. Our staff psychiatrist had to postpone his Part 2 training for scheduling reasons, but the hope is that he will find his way into a Part 2 training and join the fully trained team. Our supervision meetings are now running fully through the prism of the 8 phase protocol and the AIP model, with cases being discussed from the point of view of where the client is in the 8 phases, what resourcing work is being done, whether they are ready for transition into reprocessing, and discharge planning that takes all of this information into account. Addiction specific protocols are discussed and utilized as necessary, as are interventions specific to the variety of comorbid Complex PTSD issues we see at the center, but our main focus is this focus on the possibility of trauma resolution as part of the treatment - regardless of whether it happens at the center, at a lower level of later care, or upon discharge. By acknowledging that not all clients can be prepared and stabilized to that level where reprocessing can begin, but that all clients can go through a profound building of resilience and become familiar with the language and practice of EMDR therapy, we become able to provide trauma focused care while being distinctly not cookie cutter.

The mindfulness that the clients are practicing is that described by the historical Buddha delivered through the Refuge Recovery program, where the 4 Noble Truths and the 8 fold path are distilled into an addictions treatment modality. These practices are helping clients to move into the painful experience of their addictive minds and habits and build distress tolerance while also finding ways to cultivate positive states such as loving kindness and self compassion.  Supported by Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention, Trauma Informed Yoga, Attachment Theory Psychoeducation, and other trauma informed and trauma focused modalities, Buddhist psychology has proven to be a powerful central organizing methodology for addiction treatment.  When paired with EMDR therapy, it seems we have a new level of possibility of ending the cycle of addiction.  We do this by ending the cycle of untreated trauma while treating the addiction, at the speed that the client is able to tolerate. There is a great deal of hope being generated by this approach, and a lessening of suffering that is profound.

In my next blog post, I will share some of what our clinicians are saying about our work, as well as some of what our clients have to say. Until then...

EMDR Canada: Updating Mindfulness and EMDR Therapy for Addictions

I have had two wonderful opportunities thus far at the conference level (EMDRIA 2016 and The Evolution of Addiction Conference 2017) to present the MET(T)A Method, the integration of Buddhist Mindfulness and EMDR into an addiction treatment setting. My next conference appearance currently scheduled will be EMDR Canada, taking place this year in Banff. I will present on the final afternoon, Sunday, April 23 at 130pm. I am so excited for this opportunity to continue to share that which has become my passion, utilizing the 8 Phase Protocol and the Adaptive Information Processing Model of EMDR therapy as a design for addiction agency treatment. As I continue to train more therapists in the model, and as those therapists (and I) work on case studies and other qualitative research, my hope and excitement grows for the possibility of trauma resolution for those that suffer from addiction. In the same spirit of reflection and action that I applied in preparation for EMDRIA 2016 back in August, I will be blogging regarding my thinking about this work, the growing anecdotal reports and case study evidence, the progress on generating quantitative research, and any other thoughts and actions that grow from considering this upcoming presentation...

Interview - The Fix

Thanks to John Lavitt at The Fix for this great interview. We talked about Clinical Dharma, creativity, raising my daughter and much more…

https://www.thefix.com/rock-buddhist-doctor-treating-addiction

Dharma Talk on Against The Stream Podcast

Back in August I gave a Dharma talk at Against the Stream on the relationship between impermanence and emptiness, after we investigated the Second Foundation of Mindfulness, Mindfulness of Feeling Tone in a guided meditation. ATS just posted it as an episode of their podcast.... click to have a listen...

Interview: Mental Illness Happy Hour w/ Paul Gilmartin

A few months ago I sat down with Paul Gilmartin for his Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast. It is up today as his last podcast of the year... we talked about pretty much everything... you can listen by clicking on the link...

http://mentalpod.com/archives/4312

Evolution of Addiction Treatment Conference - Upcoming Presentation

"Mindfulness Informed EMDR Treatment: A Treatment Planning Template for
Recovery Services" will be the topic of my workshop at the Evolution of Addiction Treatment Conference in Los Angeles at the LAX Sheraton. The conference runs from Thursday February 2 through Sunday February 4.  My workshop is from 4-6pm on Saturday, and I hope to follow it up with a book signing for Clinical Dharma, and perhaps a dinner party with interested others hosted by Refuge Recovery Centers, but more will be revealed on this page and others... This workshop will bring to light the two most important projects of 2017 for me... the publishing on Springer Books of EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care, co-authored by myself and Dr. Jamie Marich. More specifically the workshop addresses the MET(T)A Method (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Addictions), developed by me for Refuge Recovery Centers and now spreading beyond to other treatment centers. I am excited to have this platform at this particular conference to bring the message of trauma focused care a little further into the addictions world.

Anna David's "You've Got Issues" Podcast: "Driving..."

My second 5 minute appearance with Anna David for September and October aired originally on September 23... and we discuss issues listeners have around driving... and all the fear it entails.

https://www.acast.com/youvegotissueswithannadavid/5-minutes-on-your-issue-driving

Citation: Francine Shapiro Library

The inner EMDR therapy geek in me is thrilled beyond belief that I am now cited in the Francine Shapiro Library at EMDRIA... and I am hoping there is more to come... for sure EMDR and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care, the book that will come out on Springer in 2017 written by myself and Dr. Jamie Marich, will be in that library... see the link below for my first citation from the EMDRIA 2016 Conference...

https://emdria.omeka.net/items/show/23819

Claire Foster: EMDR Changed The Way I Remember My Trauma

Back in August, Claire Foster, a writer based in Portland Oregon, wrote a wonderful first hand account of her experience with EMDR therapy. She reached out to me for some clarity about some aspects of EMDR, and I was more than glad to give her some feedback that appears in the article, which you can access via the link below...

http://www.theestablishment.co/2016/08/03/emdr-changed-the-way-i-remember-trauma/

Worldwide Insight - Dharma Talk (download available)

Worldwide Insight is a on-line Dharma practice group that offers meditation instruction, teachings, and live Q&A on video.

I had the great opportunity to do a talk as part of their Healing and Wellness series. Should you be interested in signing up for a free membership, below is a link that points to the recording of the talk, where I focused on a number of subjects including Clinical Dharma, EMDR and Mindfulness and trauma treatment in general from the Dharma perspective....

https://www.worldwideinsight.org/recorded-classes-healing-insight/

RECAP: Birmingham, Alabama

What a wonderful trip to Birmingham, Alabama! Spent a half day talking to clinicians about EMDR and Mindfulness, Clinical Dharma and Refuge Recovery... then lead a mini-retreat complete with a Refuge Recovery meeting the next day! Big thanks to Steve and Pam Moore and their Addiction Research Foundation for their generosity and invitation... I look forward to being down there again sometime sooner than later... and thanks to them for taking a number of copies of Clinical Dharma: A Path for Helpers and Healers to sell to their sangha and clinical colleagues!

Dharma Talk - A World Gone Mad

When I gave this Dharma talk at Against the Stream it seemed like the world was going mad... it does not seem to have abated, so until the tides change, you can possibly relate to this talk at any given time for the foreseeable future... hope it helps a little bit... how to practice in a World Gone Mad...

http://www.againstthestream.org/3231-2/

Anna David's "You've Got Issues" Podcast: "Chewing..."

Anna David has expanded her Issues with Anna podcast to include a 5 minute blast regarding the issues of her listeners that comes out every Friday, and I was a prominent presence during September and October. I will re-release these on this blog on a weekly basis starting now. Feel free to also browse the rest of her episodes, those with me as an expert and all the others... great listening!  This first episode originally released on September 16 addresses Anna's listener's (and Anna's own) problem with the sound of chewing...

https://www.acast.com/youvegotissueswithannadavid/5-minutes-on-your-issue-chewing

EMDRIA - EMDR Public Service Announcement

Public Awareness Film for EMDR Therapy Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an integrative psychotherapy approach that has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma. EMDR is a set of standardized protocols that incorporates elements from many different treatment approaches.

EMDRIA has put out a wonderful PSA for those interested in finding out more about EMDR Therapy. I share it with you because I have been having the experiences described by those in the video in my office for years. Please feel free to share further around, so that more people may possibly have years of suffering reduced or eliminated...

Addiction Professional Article on EMDR Therapy

Dr Jamie Marich and I are in the midst of writing our book EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care, due out in 2017 with Springer Publications. Jamie wrote an article for Addiction Professional magazine that highlights our thinking about the subject, as well as spotlighting the work we are doing at Refuge Recovery Centers turning EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness to the core and guiding principles and treatments for our clients. It is a very good and concise description of the MET(T)A Method...

http://www.addictionpro.com/article/mindfulness-and-psychotherapies/emdr-therapy-pathway-trauma-focused-care

My Presentation at the EMDRIA Conference and... A New Framework for Treatment and Treatment Centers

As part of my preparation to speak at this year's 2016 EMDRIA Conference in Minneapolis, I have been journaling my thoughts on the different aspects and hopeful impact of my presentation. For more information on the conference, click here. For additional journal entries, click here.

My conference presentation went as well as I could have hoped for... over 100 live and Live Stream participants took in the importance of the blending of mindfulness and EMDR therapy, and the possibility that this combination could successfully improve addiction treatment outcomes. There were so many direct and ancillary reasons for how well it went.

First of all, the opening plenary session from Dr. Gabor Mate was everything we all hoped it would be.  For me and my two Refuge Recovery Center therapists that were there as well, it was a stunning validation of everything we are doing at Refuge Recovery Centers for over an hour. Every minute or so we would look at each other, either silently or whispering out loud saying, "He just said we are on the right track!" Dr. Mate's message that unprocessed trauma is at the heart of addiction, and his message in a break out session later in the day that most of our physical and emotional problems can be found at our core of unprocessed traumatic memories and unexpressed anger -- these were the perfect lead in for my thoughts presented the next day.

My presentation started on the right foot when Susan Brown provided my introduction, she being for years at the forefront of promoting the use of EMDR therapy in the realm of addictions. Susan was responsible for some of the strongest research on how to use EMDR in a treatment setting (in her case in a drug court program with Seeking Safety as the main additional stabilizing element). Also present was AJ Popky, one of the original therapists around Francine Shapiro when she developed the therapy, and also the developer of the DeTur Protocol, the first addictions specific protocol that is still in use today. Finally, my original mentor and trainer, Andrew Leeds, was very supportive and in my corner that day, he having provided several references to mindfulness in his presentation on the mechanisms of action in EMDR therapy.

So what I came home with were these things... my presentation seemed to resonate as evidenced by the feedback afterward from many at the conference. I had great meetings with leaders in the field regarding how to push further into the world of research regarding EMDR and Addictions in particular.

I also came home with a handshake deal that then turned into a signed publishing contract with Springer Publishing Company, a leader in books on Health Care and the Helping Professions, and the absolute leader in books on EMDR therapy. The book on EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma Focused Care that I have been working on diligently with my writing partner and colleague (and founder of the Institute for Creative Mindfulness) Dr. Jamie Marich is now due to come out in Spring of 2017.

Lastly, I came home with a name for what it is I am doing at Refuge Recovery Centers and hope to have the opportunity to provide at any and all treatment centers where this message resonates. The method or protocol is now called MET(T)A, or Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Addictions (or Agencies). The META is signifying the "meta" use of the EMDR standard protocols as a template for running an agency, and the METTA of course is loving kindness, our ultimate goal in our delivery of trauma informed and trauma focused treatment. You can go for more information to www.mettamethod.com which is the website I have established in order to move forward with what inspired the conference presentation and what we have developed and implemented at Refuge Recovery.

I look forward to more presentations, more opportunities to consult with agencies, and getting to work on research of the MET(T)A method as it has been rolled out at Refuge. Thank you for reading this blog series about the 2016 EMDRIA Conference, and see you along the path!

Serene Scene Magazine: The Mindfulness and EMDR Pathway

Dr. Jamie Marich and I are well on our way to completing our manuscript regarding Mindfulness and EMDR therapy as a new template for treating addictions.. In this article with Serene Scene Magazine, we outline some of what we are writing about and previewing what we will be presenting at the Evolution of Addiction Conference in February of 2017.

Click here to read the article!