Some months back, the permanent editors of this journal invited us to guest-edit the current edition on EMDR Therapy. In all honesty, we had equal amounts of excitement and trepidation in response. EMDR therapy has profoundly shaped our professional lives since we each trained in the model many moons ago. It altered the lens with which we attempted to understand our clients and gave us a new paradigm for conceptualizing psychological therapy. We also knew, from the new-to-EMDR clinicians who attended our training courses, and from our colleagues and supervisees with many years of EMDR therapy experience, about the success they were seeing when bringing EMDR therapy into their clinical work. They have also described innovative ways they have been adapting the methodology across age, culture, and presentation. So naturally, we were excited that EMDR therapy was going to be the subject of the next journal edition. The trepidation, or concern, was about whether we could convince enough colleagues to submit written work, so that the immense potential of EMDR therapy reaches the wide circulation it deserves. The generosity of our colleagues did not fail. In the following pages are exquisite and varying papers on the workings of both individual and group EMDR therapy. The variety of papers demonstrate established and recent adaptations and innovations.
Clinical Psychologist Dr Francine Shapiro and her colleagues developed EMDR therapy over 35 years ago and there has been a strong tradition of research embedded from day one. Within a matter of a few years, the therapy took off and spread across the globe, from the USA to Europe and the Middle East, to South America, Asia, and as is often the case with our side of the pond, it eventually found its way to the land of the long white cloud. As with most imports, over here we accept new goods with a critical eye and a well-meaning cultural lens, and we question - will this work for all our people? Indeed, a common and well-placed question is about whether an individual-based psychotherapy that originated in a Western, individualistic culture, has the potential to serve the needs of Tangata Whenua, whether it can take into account their connections to ancestors, to certain places and people around them, and their wider-attachment experiences.
These questions act as reminders for us about how we can practice EMDR therapy safely and effectively in Aotearoa New Zealand. This means to respect and make a space for the EMDR explanatory model and methodology on the one hand, and on the other, to our clients’ unique past and present experiences and needs.
Mā whero, mā pango ka oti ai te mahi - with red and black the work will be complete, and as it relates to us here, it is our responsibility to work together, to recognise and weave the therapy and what matters to our client, for the work (the treatment) to be complete.
Unlike the 8 phases of the standard EMDR therapy protocol, there are no sequenced phases for cultural adaptations. We are by far no cultural experts, but we have been fortunate to have the advice and guidance of our colleagues and clients. We learned to recognise, in our training lecture spaces, our supervision groups as well as in our therapy rooms, that creating the space for whakawhanaunga (in Te Reo, coming together, getting to know one another and fostering relationships) is an opportunity to connect, for example, by saying something about who we are that is more meaningful than our professional title. We are tentative with our assumptions, being the “experts on the therapy” whilst respecting the other’s expertise on their culture, their world, their experience. We never believe that “we know enough”. To the best of our ability, we practice collaboratively with humility and respect.
Is EMDR Therapy a robust, evidence-based treatment? The abundance of research and publications yields an easy “yes”. Is EMDR Therapy an effective treatment for the people of Aotearoa New Zealand? Well, we invite our readers to be intrigued and open-minded. These papers have all been composed by our very own local (and one Australian!) clinicians. We are grateful to them for their work, for persisting with second and third drafts, in the name of sharing their work further. We are grateful to the clients who have given permission for the learning from their treatments to be written-up here. Last but not least we are thankful to the permanent NZJCCP editorial team for their ongoing support, and for giving us the opportunity to create this edition.