Trauma Therapy: Combining EMDR Therapy and Parts Work to Overcome Emotional Blocks

As a trauma therapist, I have found it especially helpful to combine EMDR and Parts Work to help clients overcome trauma experiences.

    See my article: Parts Work Can Be Empowering)

There are many ways that EMDR and Parts Work can be used together in trauma therapy. 

In this article, I'm focusing on how the combination of Parts Work and EMDR therapy is beneficial to overcome a blocking belief.

What is a Blocking Belief in EMDR?

A blocking belief is a negative thought or belief that acts as an obstacle to integrating the trauma during trauma therapy.

Combining EMDR and Parts Work Therapy

Blocking beliefs are often longstanding. 

Often these beliefs developed during early childhood. They can originate in memories, family experiences, cultural issues, relationships or other experiences.

Examples of blocking beliefs include (but are not limited to):

• "I'm not good enough."
• "I'm unlovable." (see my article: Overcoming the Pain of Feeling Unlovable)
• "I'm powerless."
• "I don't deserve to get better."

As long as a blocking belief exists, it can get in the way of processing the trauma in any type of therapy.

I usually provide clients with psychoeducation about blocking beliefs before we begin processing the trauma because these beliefs are so common.

That's also when I talk to clients about using Parts Work therapy--either Ego States therapy or IFS (Internal Family Systems) to help overcome the blocking belief.

Combining EMDR and Parts Work to Overcome Trauma

During Parts Work therapy, I help clients to identify the various aspects of themselves, including the part that contains the blocking belief, the part of them that wants to get better and other parts that might be involved.

Once these parts are identified, the client can understand how the blocking belief is preventing them from progressing in therapy. They can also understand the positive parts of themselves that they can nurture and strengthen.

Clinical Vignette

The following clinical vignette illustrates how Parts Work can help to overcome a blocking belief in EMDR therapy:

John

John sought help in EMDR therapy to overcome complex trauma stemming from a childhood history of emotional neglect.

He was motivated to seek help in trauma therapy because he could see how his childhood history was affecting his adult relationships--both personal and work-related. 

Combining EMDR and Parts Work Therapy

In his personal life, he tended to choose partners who were hurtful and emotionally avoidant--people who were similar to his parents. 

At work, he wasn't able to assert himself to get a well deserved promotion and a raise because he lacked confidence.

His trauma therapist explained EMDR therapy to him. She also told him that during EMDR, it was common to find a blocking belief that becomes an obstacle to working through the trauma.

With his therapist's help, John identified the blocking belief, "I'm not good enough." After identifying this belief, John realized it had been an obstacle in his prior therapies. 

In the past, whenever John tried to work through his childhood trauma, he was overcome with a deep sense of shame and then he would drop out of therapy (see my article: Shame is at the Root of Most Emotional Problems).

He never understood before why he was overcome with shame to the point where he felt he had to leave therapy prematurely (see my article: Why Do Clients Leave Therapy Prematurely?).

It wasn't until his current trauma therapist helped him to identify the particular part of himself that carried this blocking belief that he began to understand why he left therapy in the past before his problems were worked through.

His current therapist helped him to give voice to this part, which John called "the sad boy." 

Using Ego States therapy, which is a type of Parts Work therapy, his therapist helped John to use the adult part of himself that felt strong and positive to show compassion and kindness to the "sad boy" part.

Over a period of time, John was able to transform the "sad boy" part so he could process his traumatic memories with EMDR therapy because he no longer had the blocking belief.

Combining EMDR and Parts Work Therapy

The work was neither quick nor easy, but John made steady progress with Parts Work therapy and EMDR and, eventually, he worked through his history of trauma so it no longer was an obstacle for him.

Conclusion

Combining EMDR therapy with Parts Work is an effective strategy for overcoming blocking beliefs.

Although I have focused on the combination of EMDR and Parts Work, Parts Work can be used in combination with any type of therapy.

Once the blocking belief part is identified, the trauma therapist helps the client to work with this part using other positive parts to transform the blocking belief so it is no longer a problem.

Getting Help in Trauma Therapy

Regular talk therapy usually isn't enough to help clients to overcome trauma, especially complex trauma (see my article: Why is Experiential Therapy More Effective Than Regular Talk Therapy?).

If you have been struggling with unresolved trauma, you could benefit from working with a trauma therapist who combines EMDR and Parts Work therapy.

Rather than struggling on your own, seek help from a licensed mental health professional who is who is an experienced trauma therapist.

Once you have overcome your trauma history, you can live a more fulfilling life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT (for couples), Parts Work therapist, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I work with individual adults and couples.

As a trauma therapist, I have helped many clients to overcome trauma (see my article: What is a Trauma Therapist?).

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

Getting to Know the Many Parts of Yourself in Parts Work Therapy

Parts Work therapy assumes that everyone has many different aspects as part of their psychological world (see my article: What You Resist Persists: The More You Resist What You Don't Like About Yourself, the More It Persists).

Getting to Know the Many Parts of Yourself in Parts Work Therapy

This article focuses on how you can understand your internal world and the role of Parts Work in overcoming psychological problems.

What is Parts Work and How Is It Different From Traditional Therapy?

Parts Work is a broad category for different types of therapy including but not limited to:

• Gestalt therapy
• Ego States Therapy
  
• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
• Voice Dialogue therapy
• Jungian archetypes

Each of these modalities has its own unique method for helping you to access your internal world of parts and to heal traumatized parts.

Getting to Know the Many Parts of Yourself in Parts Work Therapy

What each of these modalities has in common is an understanding that psychological healing involves more than developing psychological insight into your unresolved problems. 

Beyond insight, it involves getting to know your psychological landscape and giving a voice to the many different facets of yourself.

Unlike some traditional forms of psychotherapy, which assume certain thoughts and emotions are negative or unwanted, Parts Work is nonjudgmental and fosters a sense of acceptance for all parts of yourself.  

Compassionate self acceptance allows you to have a gentler way of approaching aspects of yourself related to unresolved problems.

Rather than trying to get rid of the parts of yourself you don't like, Parts Work allows you to integrate these parts in a healthy way by:

• Giving a voice to each part
• Allowing each part to communicate what it needs and what it fears
• Understanding how and why each part gets triggered
• Developing a healthy relationship with each part to foster psychological integration and healing

How I Use Parts Work With Clients

I have many different ways of helping clients to overcome unresolved problems, including problems related to complex trauma.

• Parts Work (Ego States therapy and Internal Family Systems as described in this article) 

• EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

• AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy)

• Hypnotherapy

• Somatic Experiencing

To choose a particular modality, I assess which type of therapy is best for a client's needs in collaboration with the client.  

As a therapist who integrates many different modalities, I often integrate different types of therapy based on the needs of the client.

For instance, as a trauma therapist, I might assess that EMDR therapy is the best way to begin with a particular client. 

Even though I have chosen EMDR to start, I'm aware clients often encounter an obstacle along the way and we will need to overcome this block to continue with EMDR.  This obstacle is referred to as an emotional block.

The metaphor that is often associated with encountering a block in EMDR is one where a moving train is blocked due to fallen tree on the tracks.  The train can't proceed until the tree (or block) is removed, so this is where Parts Work can be integrated with EMDR to overcome an obstacle in the treatment.

By exploring the obstacle through Parts Work, the client and I can discover the nature of this blocking part and what it needs. Often, it's a matter of asking the part to step aside (metaphorically), but it's also possible that the part needs more attention before it will allow the EMDR therapy to proceed.

In traditional therapy, a blocking part would be considered a defense mechanism such as resistance.  Rather than interpreting this obstacle as something negative to be gotten rid of, Parts Work approaches the blocking part with compassion to work with it directly in a kind and gentle way.  

If I'm using Parts Work as the primary modality, I help the client to have a complete experience of the part using the Somatic Experiencing concept called SIBAM:

• Sensation: What information is the client getting from their body? This could include sensations in any part of the body as well as muscle tension.

• Image: This refers to sensory impression including sight, sound, taste, taste and touch.

• Behavior: This refers to observable behavior including gestures, facial expressions and posture as well as an increase in heart rate and other visceral reactions.

• Affect: This refers to emotion and the client's felt sense experience.

• Meaning: Using language, the client puts words to the total experience of sensation, image, behavior and affect.

So, Parts Work can be used as a standalone therapy or in combination with other types of Experiential therapy like EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, AEDP and hypnotherapy.

What Are the Benefits of Parts Work?

Whether its used as a standalone therapy or in conjunction with other modalities, Parts Work is a transformational therapy.

The benefits of Parts Work include:

• Psychological Healing: Parts Work allows you to address unresolved emotional wounds and traumatic memories which are buried deep within your mind. By having a dialogue with parts you might have disavowed, you begin the healing process by integrating split off parts of yourself so that you have a more integrated experience.

Getting to Know Yourself Through Parts Work Therapy

• Compassionate Self Acceptance: Parts Work encourages a compassionate and collaborative experience with the many parts of yourself. Rather than viewing certain parts as negative or unwanted, you embrace all parts of yourself.

• Emotional Resilience: Parts Work's integrated approach allows you to enhance your emotional resilience and coping skills because your internal world is more harmonious.

• Personal Growth: Parts Work fosters personal growth through self integration. As you heal the various parts of you, you can discover new internal resources within yourself for personal growth.

• Stress Reduction: When your internal world is more integrated and harmonious, you can experience a reduction in internal conflict so you can reduce stress.

• Heal Trauma: Whether Parts Work is used as a standalone therapy or together with other modalities, it provides a structured and supportive environment to heal trauma, including unresolved childhood trauma of abuse or neglect or more recent trauma.

Getting Help in Therapy

If you're struggling with unresolved problems, you could benefit from working with a licensed mental health professional who uses Parts Work.

Getting Help in Parts Work Therapy

The many benefits of Parts Work can help you to heal from unresolved problems, including traumatic memories and complex trauma.

Rather than struggling on your own, seek help so you can overcome your personal struggles and live a more meaningful life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I work with individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

Coping with Psychological Trauma: What Are Emotional Flashbacks?

Emotional flashbacks are intense emotional states which are triggered in the present by unresolved trauma from the past (see my article: Reacting to the Present Based on Your Traumatic Past).

Psychological Trauma and Emotional Flashbacks

Emotional flashbacks often occur to people with Complex Trauma.  

In this article, I'll define emotional flashbacks and give examples of these experiences.

What Are Emotional Flashbacks?

Emotional flashbacks occur when there is a triggering event.  The person who is having an emotional flashback experiences strong waves of emotion.  These experiences are related to traumatic experiences from the past, but an experience in the present triggers the emotional flashback.

Emotional flashbacks bring a person back into feeling-states they had during the original trauma, including traumatic childhood experiences.

How Are Emotional Flashbacks Different From Other Traumatic Flashbacks?

Flashbacks have specific memories associated with them. Often there is a visual image with flashbacks.

However, emotional flashbacks usually don't have visual images.  The person who is having an emotional flashback relives the emotions associated with trauma from the past.  This can make it confusing because, without the visual images related to a particular memory, the person often doesn't know why they're having the emotional flashback.

What Are Some of Symptoms of Emotional Flashbacks?

People who experience emotional flashbacks experience emotions related to past trauma including:

• Fear
• Feeling unsafe
• Feeling abandoned
• Shame
• Sadness
• A sense of impending doom

What Can Trigger an Emotional Flashback?

• Sights
• Sounds
• Smells
• People
• Situations
• Events

Examples of Emotional Flashbacks

The following examples are composites of many different clinical cases with all identifying information removed to illustrate how emotional flashbacks can occur:

    Jack

After Jack gave a presentation at work to senior managers, he met with his director to get feedback. His director's feedback was overwhelmingly positive. He only had one minor  recommendation for Jack about how to improve one of the graphics.  Then, he concluded by congratulating Jack on a job well done.  Even though the director's feedback was very positive, when Jack heard the minor recommendation, he felt waves of intense fear and shame wash over him.  

Emotional Flashbacks at Work

When he was alone in his office, Jack felt overwhelmed by these emotions and he couldn't understand what was happening.  Although he remained in his office for the rest of the day, Jack felt like he was in two places at once--being in the office as well as feeling like he was somewhere else, but he didn't know where.  Later that day, when he had a session with his trauma therapist, who knew his family history, she told him he was having an emotional flashback which was related to his childhood history with an overly critical father, who beat him for making mistakes.  His therapist helped Jack with some grounding exercises to calm him down and then they processed the experience with Somatic Experiencing therapy.

Alice

As she walked into her kitchen, Alice overheard her mother-in-law tell another party guest that she admired Alice's intelligence.  As she stood in the kitchen holding the tray of appetizers, Alice felt her hands trembling so much that she had to set the tray down to steady herself against the counter.  She felt waves of sadness and shame, but she couldn't understand what was happening to her.  When her partner, Jane, came in to see what was keeping Alice from rejoining the party, Jane found Alice in a state of terror.  She had seen Alice like this before so she held her close and soothed her with supportive words.  

Emotional Flashbacks at Home

During her next trauma therapy session, Alice realized her emotional flashback was related to experiences she had as a child when she heard her mother praising Alice's sister for being the "pretty one" and saying with scorn that Alice was the "intelligent one" in the family.  Her mother's tone of disgust towards Alice conveyed how much more she preferred what she perceived as Alice's sister's beauty as compared to Alice's intelligence.  Even though, as an adult, Alice knew logically that she was also pretty and her sister was also intelligent, whenever anyone complimented her for being intelligent, on an emotional level, she felt abandoned, ashamed, fearful and sad.  She and her trauma therapist worked on these childhood memories using EMDR therapy.

Joe

Joe normally considered himself to be a person who was on an even keel emotionally--except whenever he was cut off by another driver on the road.  At those times, he would go into a rage.  During one incident when his wife was in the car, Joe was so enraged that he pursued the other driver for several miles, caught up with him at a red light and cursed at him.  

Emotional Flashbacks and Road Rage

His wife feared the other driver would get out of his car and there might be a physical confrontation, but he drove away instead.  She was so upset by this incident that she insisted Joe get help in therapy or she would never get into the car with him again.  When Joe began trauma therapy, he learned that his road rage experiences were connected to his childhood experiences of feeling helpless whenever his father beat him when the father was drunk.  During those times, Joe suppressed his fear, sadness and his tears because he was afraid his father would become even more angry if he allowed his emotions to show.  But, as an adult, these emotions and physical reactions remained suppressed in Joe's body and came out during these road rage incidents.  He and his therapist worked on his unresolved trauma using AEDP therapy.

Ina

A few weeks after Ina began dating Bill, she invited him up to her apartment.  She really liked Bill and she knew the feelings were mutual.  Until then, they had kissed but they had never had sex, which Ina really wanted to do.  After relaxing on the couch together where they cuddled, Ina invited Bill into the bedroom and they began to kiss and undress.  As they got into bed, Ina was aware that she was sexually aroused, but when Bill kissed her ear, she froze.  She felt waves of terror come over her and she jumped out of bed.  She didn't know what had come over her and she apologized to Bill.  Although he was very caring and understanding, Bill was confused because he didn't understand what was happening.  Since neither of them knew what was happening, they both agreed to cuddle instead of having sex that night.  

Emotional Flashback and a History of Sexual Abuse

The next day during her trauma therapy session, Ina' realized her emotional flashback was related to childhood memories of when her stepfather used to come into her bedroom after her mother had fallen asleep.  Just before he touched Ina's breasts, he would kiss her ear.  When Ina remembered these experiences in her therapy, her therapist provided Ina with psychoeducation about emotional flashbacks.  Soon after that, they worked on Ina's history of sexual abuse (see my article: Overcoming the Trauma of Sexual Abuse).

Getting Help in Trauma Therapy

Emotional flashbacks related to unresolved trauma are challenging experiences.

Rather than struggling on your own, seek help from a trauma therapist (see my article: What is a Trauma Therapist?).

Once you have worked through your traumatic history, you'll be free to live a more fulfilling life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I am a trauma therapist who works with individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

 

What is Complex Trauma?

Psychological trauma can be a single event, like shock trauma, which includes being the victim of a robbery, a car accident, an assault or living through a devastating hurricane where your house is destroyed, among other things. 

What is Complex Trauma?

Complex trauma involves many related traumatic events experienced by children, including abuse and profound neglect, that occur over an extended period of time and the difficulties that arise as a result of adapting to and surviving these events.

According to SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), 1 in 7 children experience abuse or neglect.

What Are the Symptoms of Complex Trauma For Adults?

The symptoms of complex trauma can include any of the following:

• Feeling anxious
• Feeling depressed
• Experiencing flashbacks
• Experiencing nightmares
• Avoiding circumstances that remind you of the traumatic events (emotional avoidance)
• Having difficulty managing emotions
• Perceiving yourself in a distorted way
• Feeling worthless
• Avoiding or having difficulty with personal relationships
• Feeling disconnected from yourself or others (a form of dissociation)
• Having problems remembering parts of your childhood 
• Having difficulty providing a comprehensive narrative of your childhood memories, which can include fragmented memories.
• Experiencing sleep problems
• Experiencing sexual problems
• Experiencing medical problems, like Type 2 diabetes
• Feeling body aches, including migraines, stomach and digestive problems, arthritis
• Experiencing low energy or fatigue
• Misusing drugs, alcohol, tobacco, food
• Engaging in other compulsive or impulsive behavior, including compulsive gambling, sexual compulsivity, and other behaviors

Examples of Complex Trauma

Complex trauma usually begins in childhood.  These events are recurrent, overwhelming and longstanding, and they are usually perpetrated by other adults, like family members, family friends, neighbors, clergy, and so on.  These incidents often occur over a span of weeks, months or years.

Examples of complex trauma include:

• Physical abuse

• Emotional abuse

• Sexual abuse (see my article: Overcoming the Trauma of Sexual Abuse)

• Profound child emotional neglect (see my article: What is Childhood Emotional Neglect?)

• Abandonment

• Parentification (role reversal where child takes on the parental role)

• Medical abuse or trauma

• Torture or being held captive

• Living in a war zone or in an area with civil unrest

And so on.

Mind-Body Oriented Psychotherapy For Complex Trauma

The following mind-body oriented therapies are often effective to overcome complex trauma:

• EMDR Therapy which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (see my article: How EMDR Therapy Works: EMDR and the Brain)

• Somatic Experiencing Therapy (see my article: Trauma Therapy: The Therapeutic Benefits of Somatic Experiencing)

• AEDP, which stands for Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (see my articles: What is AEDP?  Part 1 and Part 2).

• Hypnotherapy, which is also known as Clinical Hypnosis (see my article: What is Clinical Hypnosis?)

• Parts Work Therapy: Ego States Therapy of Internal Family System (see my article: How Parts Work Can Be Empowering)

Getting Help in Therapy

If you are experiencing complex trauma symptoms, you could benefit from working with a trauma therapist (see my article: What is a Trauma Therapist?).

Once you have worked through your unresolved trauma, you can lead a more fulfilling life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I am a trauma therapist who works with individual adults and couples.

To find out more about me, visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.