(Through the end of December 2018, you can order the EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology book directly from W. W. Norton at a 20% discount with free shipping. The coupon code is EMDRSP18 — Click here to order.)
As therapists, our clients ask us to guide them through the process of healing trauma. Some feel shocked, numb, and cut off from their emotions. Others feel overwhelmed by fear and panic. Most importantly, trauma also leaves an imprint on the body. Often, we sit with our clients as they wrestle with intolerable sensations. Effective trauma treatment requires a holistic approach in which therapists have the skills to effectively help clients cope with the cognitive, emotional, and somatic symptoms of PTSD. It is imperative that therapists learn how to help our clients and ourselves stay embodied in the midst of the powerful relational moments that form the basis of effective therapy. Such is the purpose of the EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology book.
This new book that is co-authored by myself and my colleague, Barb Maiberger, M.A., serves as a guide to help EMDR practitioners integrate somatic therapy into their sessions. We wrote this book to meet the growing interest in a synthesis of Somatic Psychology with EMDR Therapy as a comprehensive trauma treatment model. We offer interventions as scripted protocols to enhance embodiment within the 8-phases of EMDR Therapy.
“This integrative treatment model will teach you how to invite the client to sense and feel the body as a foundation for working through traumatic memories in a safe and regulated manner in order to facilitate lasting integration. Grounded in the science of interpersonal neurobiology, we guide you, the therapist, to increase your own embodied awareness which provides a basis for an attuned therapeutic rapport. In all, we hope you will come away with advanced ways to help your clients reclaim their lives from the costs of PTSD.”
-Dr. Arielle Schwartz
In 1999 I was invited to join the faculty in the psychology department at Naropa University to teach courses in somatic psychology with my colleague and friend Barb Maiberger. This began our journey of collaborating and teaching together. Since that time, we both proceeded to train in and eventually become trainers in EMDR Therapy. In the last decade, we have brought EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology together in the form of EMDR workshops with an emphasis on integrating somatic psychology principles for the treatment of trauma. These workshops became the impetus for the development of this book.
In our years of teaching, we noticed how frequently therapists would come into trainings without an understanding of how to help clients navigate the profound somatic experiences that often accompany PTSD. It is common for clients to feel sensations of tension, nausea, sudden pain, headaches, dizziness, fogginess, or shakiness during trauma processing. Sometimes, therapists’ own fears about their client’s somatic experiences would can lead them to inadvertently shut-down a client’s processing of an event or react in a way that interferes with trauma recovery. This book provides you with a theoretical understanding of somatic psychology and accessible, experiential interventions that allow you to apply the science of embodiment into trauma treatment.
“Over the last 4 decades, my own training as a therapist has included EMDR therapy, ego state work, relational, and mindfulness interventions that combine working cognitively and somatically. EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology brings together the best of these useful modalities, in one place. Arielle Schwartz and Barb Maiberger skillfully teach how to bring somatic, mindfulness, and relational therapies into the EMDR protocol. And they do it in plain English, with wonderful scripts that will teach clinicians how to guide clients into embodied and relational awareness with many lovely, helpful interventions”
—From the forward of the book written by Robin Shapiro, M.S.W, L.I.C.S.W, author of EMDR Solutions I and II.
“This pioneering book broadens the reach and enhances the efficacy of EMDR by masterfully integrating select body psychology interventions into EMDR protocols for the treatment of trauma. Providing an overview of somatic psychology theory and neuroscience, as well as accessible experiential exercises and techniques, the authors have written a landmark volume that will be of tremendous use to EMDR therapists everywhere who want to include the body in their clinical practice.”
—Pat Ogden, PHD, Founder, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute; author Trauma and the Body: A Sensorimotor Approach to Psychotherapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment
“Arielle Schwartz and Barb Maiberger have provided a groundbreaking, clear and comprehensive volume that integrates somatic psychology and EMDR therapy. It will enrich the practice of EMDR therapists by grounding them first, in the theory of somatic therapies and the science of embodiment and then introducing creative, somatic interventions. These clearly presented step-by-step exercises offer client and therapist specific paths through each of the eight phases of EMDR, helping clients be fuller, embodied participants in their work. It will be an important addition to your therapy library!”
—Carol Forgash, LCSW, Co-Author Healing the Heart of Trauma and Dissociation with EMDR and Ego State Therapy
“Rarely have I read such a comprehensive, balanced, thorough, and useful book for therapists of all kinds. Schwartz and Maiberger have struck a profoundly productive balance of theory and research with practice and application. Culturally inclusive and refreshingly cross-disciplinary, this book deftly clarifies the complexities of an embodied approach to healing. Whether you are new to the somatic field or well versed in it, this book will guide you and inspire you in your work.”
—Christine Caldwell, PHD, Professor, Somatic Counseling Psychology, Naropa University
“This is an in-depth approach to therapies meant to enhance embodied awareness, including EMDR, Somatic Psychology, yoga, movement, mindfulness, and bodywork. There are many wonderfully detailed and somatically grounded clinical protocols and guidelines. I was deeply touched by the authors’ compassion and wisdom about the embodiment of the human condition, including for those suffering from trauma, pain, and illness, and for the therapists/practitioners who are willing to commit themselves to a whole body, whole person engagement with the client.”
—Alan Fogel, PHD, Professor of Psychology Emeritus, University of Utah,and Rosen Method Bodywork Senior Teacher and Practitioner
Through the end of December 2018, you can order the EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology book directly from W. W. Norton at a 20% discount with free shipping. The coupon code is EMDRSP18 — Click here to order.
If you find this book helpful I would appreciate it if you will take the time to write a review on Amazon and in the comments below. Thank you in advance.
~Arielle
Dr. Arielle Schwartz is a licensed clinical psychologist, wife, and mother in Boulder, CO. She offers trainings for therapists, maintains a private practice, and has passions for the outdoors, yoga, and writing. Dr. Schwartz is the author of The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole (Althea press, 2016) and co-author of EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology: Interventions to Enhance Embodiment in Trauma Treatment (Norton, 2018). She is the developer of Resilience-Informed Therapy which applies research on trauma recovery to form a strength-based, trauma treatment model that includes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), somatic (body-centered) psychology and time-tested relational psychotherapy. Like Dr. Arielle Schwartz on Facebook, follow her on Linkedin and sign up for email updates to stay up to date with all her posts.
Barb Maiberger, MA, LPC is the founder of the Maiberger Institute, and the author of “EMDR Essentials: A Guide for Clients and Therapists” and the co-author of “EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology: Interventions to Enhance Embodiment in Trauma Treatment.” Barb Maiberger is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant, and an EMDRIA Certified EMDR Therapist. Barb Maiberger is the CE Program Administrator for the Maiberger Institute. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Colorado and has a Masters degree in Somatic Psychology. Barb’s knowledge, experience, keen sense of empathy, and a strong presence have motivated hundreds therapists to incorporate EMDR Therapy into their practices.
Arielle Schwartz, PhD, is a psychologist, internationally sought-out teacher, yoga instructor, and leading voice in the healing of PTSD and complex trauma. She is the author of five books, including The Complex PTSD Workbook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, and The Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook.
Dr. Schwartz is an accomplished teacher who guides therapists in the application of EMDR, somatic psychology, parts work therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions for the treatment of trauma and complex PTSD. She guides you through a personal journey of healing in her Sounds True audio program, Trauma Recovery.
She has a depth of understanding, passion, kindness, compassion, joy, and a succinct way of speaking about very complex topics. She is the founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy in Boulder, Colorado where she maintains a private practice providing psychotherapy, supervision, and consultation. Dr. Schwartz believes that that the journey of trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart.
