In reply to the Council of Scholars: How an IFS-informed approach to EMDR could help EMDR trainees on their journey to becoming fully-fledged EMDR psychotherapists

McGoldrick responds to the Council of Scholars 2021 position paper and discusses integrating EMDR with Internal Family Systems (IFS).

Article Description

“This article is a reply to the EMDR Council of Scholar’s 2021 position paper on EMDR therapy, describing EMDR as being at a “crossroads”, and at risk of losing out to other trauma treatments as it is frequently misconstrued as a mere protocol or tool rather than a whole therapy. The article draws on the long history of EMDR as an integrative psychotherapy practice. It suggests that combining the Internal Family Systems model (IFS) as a cornerstone of EMDR could help to fulfil EMDR therapy’s grand promise: of treating the problems of daily living based on reprocessing disturbing life experiences. Points of crossover and complementarity between the two approaches are identified and discussed, along with significant points of difference, with reference to the few works already published that consider IFS and EMDR side by side.”

—Description from publisher

Article Access

Open Access

McGoldrick, A. (2022). In reply to the Council of Scholars: How an IFS-informed approach to EMDR could help EMDR trainees on their journey to becoming fully-fledged EMDR psychotherapists. EMDR UK EMDR Therapy Quarterly. https://etq.emdrassociation.org.uk/2022/08/15/in-reply-to-the-council-of-scholars-how-an-ifs-informed-approach-to-emdr-could-help-emdr-trainees-on-their-journey-to-becoming-fully-fledged-emdr-psychotherapists/