About this course

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate between top-down cognitive interventions (e.g., CPT, CBT) and bottom-up somatic interventions (e.g., EMDR, Brainspotting) regarding their targeted brain structures and mechanisms of action.
• Describe the eight phases of EMDR and the neurobiological rationale for taxing working memory using bilateral stimulation.
• Explain the core mechanism of Brainspotting ("where you look affects how you feel") and identify two clinical setups used to isolate subcortical processing spots.
• Evaluate clinical safety considerations, contraindications, and risks associated with unguided self-use of eye movement modalities outside a formal therapeutic relationship.

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Jenny Hughes, PhD

  Founder, BRAVE Providers

  Jenny Hughes, PhD (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist, assistant professor, author, and founder of The BRAVE Trauma Therapist Collective, a global community supporting trauma therapists in staying connected to their work without disconnecting from themselves.

  Dr. Hughes received her PhD from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2014 and completed her internship and postdoctoral training at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Jenny serves on faculty at both UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School and Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, where she trains psychology interns and psychiatry residents in trauma-informed care, vicarious resilience, and the treatment of PTSD across the lifespan.

  Her clinical and research work centers on posttraumatic stress, vicarious trauma, and vicarious resilience, with special interests in trauma-focused interventions following injury and the use of virtual reality in PTSD treatment.

Disclosure

References

• D’Antoni, F., Matiz, A., Fabbro, F., & Crescentini, C. (2022). Psychotherapeutic techniques for distressing memories: A comparative study between emdr, brainspotting, and body scan meditation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1142. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031142
• Hildebrand, A., Grand, D., & Stemmler, M. (2017). Brainspotting – the efficacy of a new therapy approach for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in comparison to eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol 5, No 1 (2017). https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/2017.5.1376
• De Jongh, A., De Roos, C., & El‐Leithy, S. (2024). State of the science: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (Emdr) therapy. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 37(2), 205–216. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23012
• Nakao, M., Shirotsuki, K., & Sugaya, N. (2021). Cognitive–behavioral therapy for management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 15, 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13030-021-00219-w
• Kuhfuß, M., Maldei, T., Hetmanek, A., & Baumann, N. (2021). Somatic experiencing - effectiveness and key factors of a body-oriented trauma therapy: A scoping literature review. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12(1), 1929023. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2021.1929023
• Talbot, J., de la Salle, S., & Jaworska, N. (2023). A paradigm shift in trauma treatment: Converging evidence for a novel adaptation of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing(Emdr). Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie, 68(4), 283–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/07067437221142283