EMDR and Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Integration

OVERVIEW

What Is This Vlog About?

Topics Covered

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an effective form of treatment for trauma, depression, anxiety, addictions, and more. While EMDR can be helpful in many cases, some clients who struggle with affect regulation may not benefit from the desensitization and reprocessing phases. Without effective ways to regulate their nervous systems, these clients can deteriorate during reprocessing. The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP), a tool that was created by Dr. Stephen Porges alongside Unyte-iLs, and is based on the Polyvagal Theory, can help those clients who struggle with emotion regulation. In this video, Jill Hosey, an approved EMDR Consultant, and an EMDR trainer, and Leah Dawang, a somatic coach, explain the benefits of integrating the Safe and Sound Protocol with EMDR Therapy.

SPEAKER

About The Speakers

Jillian Hosey

Jill Hosey

MSW, RSW, EMDR Approved Consultant and Trainer

Jill Hosey, MSW RSW, is a Registered Social Worker and Trauma Therapist in a collaborative Private Practice in Toronto Canada, providing trauma therapy to children, youth, and adults with histories of complex trauma and dissociation. In addition to being trained in a variety of trauma, attachment and dissociation focused theories and modalities, Jill is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and EMDR Virtual Basic Trainer, a facilitator with the AGATE Institute (Ana Gomez Attachment Trauma Education Institute), and Faculty with the ISSTD’s Professional Training and EMDR Therapy Training Programs. She has presented on integrating the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) into EMDR Therapy at the Child and Adolescent Complex Trauma Conference 2019 and the SSP Gathering with Dr. Stephen Porges in 2019, as well as on the assessment of dissociation in children and youth. Jill is the lead author of the Clinical guidelines and considerations for integrating the Safe and Sound Protocol into EMDR Therapy, a chapter on Therapeutic presence and the therapeutic relationship as both trigger and container to healing in E. Christenson’s (Ed.), Perspectives of Dissociative Identity Response: Ethical, Historical, and Cultural Issues, and the co-editor and contributing author for the Handbook for Child Complex Trauma and Dissociation: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications (Routledge, In Press). She is also a winner of the 2022 ISSTD Distinguished Achievement Award and is a Fellow of the ISSTD.

Unyte-iLs

Leah Dawang

Somatic Experiencing® Coach

Leah Dawang serves as Unyte’s Partnership Cultivation Manager and envisions all members of the helping and healing communities linking arms in Love and transforming the world. Leah’s initial career in tech start-ups and event management took a sharp turn when her entire being suffered from the effects of trauma. After traveling the world, attending G42 Leadership Academy and plenty of therapy, Leah rediscovered her love for Love and founded Clear The Way, a coaching practice devoted to guiding others in clearing the effects of trauma that block them from receiving unconditional Love. She is an SSP provider in the final stages of becoming a Somatic Experiencing practitioner and is passionate about all things that lead to Love including the nervous system, neurobiology, spoken word and rich conversations.

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Help Your Clients Regulate

The Polyvagal Theory

In order to live a healthy life, we need to be in our “ventral vagal” state. The Polyvagal Theory was discovered by Dr. Stephen Porgess and has been used by therapists around the world to teach their clients nervous system regulation.

Unyte-iLs

Unyte's mission is to empower every person to guide their nervous system toward awareness, regulation and resilience. Unyte's tools help individuals feel happier, safer and more healthy, and allow humans to cope effectively with life’s challenges.

EMDR-SSP Resources

Unyte-iLs, with the help of experiences EMDR practitioners, created guidelines for successful delivery of EMDR and the Safe and Sound (SSP) Protocol. Additionally, Unyte offers a download a Free E-Book: A Polyvagal Approach to Setting the Foundation for EMDR Therapy

RESOURCES

Want to learn more about integrating EMDR and the Polyvagal Theory?

Watch Jackie Flynn talking with Dr. Stephen Porges

More on the Polyvagal Theory

A regulated nervous system is necessary for us to be able to navigate the world with a sense of safety and comfort. We all run into challenges most days. Some issues are easier to manage than others, but no matter how an experience is being perceived on the spectrum of easy to extremely difficult, the Polyvagal theory and the understanding of our nervous system and how it operates is the beginning journey toward regulation.

Watch Jackie Flynn in conversation with Dr. Stephen Porges, discussing the Polyvagal Theory.