Incorporating EMDR and EMDR Adaptations into the Treatment of Clients with Dissociative Identity Disorder

Abstract

This paper offers ways to incorporate Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in the treatment of clients with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Uses of EMDR detailed can be applied to Dissociative Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (DDNOS) and ego state work. EMDR is a therapeutic method using alternating bilateral stimulation (ABS) that integrates traumatic memories with adaptive reasoning and the patient's own resources, resulting in accelerated information processing and healing. DID is a complex disorder suffered by clients who have often experienced multiple childhood traumas. They live with what Kluft (1993) terms a “multiple reality disorder,” and describes as living in “… several parallel but incompletely overlapping constructions of the world and of life experience.” An asset with EMDR is that it can accelerate the treatment process. A liability is that its incorrect use can accelerate decompensation for fragile clients, e.g., those with complex trauma histories or DID. This paper offers suggested uses of EMDR and EMDR adaptations to facilitate learning, intervene in multiple reality disorder, decrease some negative transferences and to provide a protective format for processing traumatic material.

Key Words:

• Dissociation
• EMDR