Using EMDR with Chronic Pain and Illness

Earn (1.5) CE Credits

Clients with chronic pain and illness often present with multiple traumas in their backgrounds. We as therapists are not medical doctors, so you might be thinking, how can we help?

In using EMDR with clients, you can focus on the trauma from the actual pain itself, the medical diagnosing process, the medical trauma of treatments, healthcare provider gaslighting, and many more scenarios.

• How do you decide what to target?  
• Is there a different protocol that can be used that specifically targets the pain itself?  
• Where do I start?
• If you are seeing clients with illnesses or pain issues, or you feel intimidated by using EMDR with these clients, this is the training for you!

Educational Goal:

Increase knowledge of using the EMDR Pain Protocol as well as considerations for all eight phases of EMDR when working with a client presenting with chronic pain/illness. 

In addition to EMDR, one will learn adjunctive therapies that are helpful with this specific population, targeting the psychological piece of living with chronic health issues and pain.

Learning Outcomes: 

1. Participants will Identify three of the following: psychological trauma, stress, personality factors, and medical issues and their contribution to chronic pain.
2. Participants will be able to determine a treatment plan that includes where to start EMDR treatment,
3. Participants will be able to name one consideration for each of the eight phases of EMDR that are specific for chronic pain clients in EMDR treatment.
4. Participants will be able to define and integrate EMDR therapy with other treatment interventions and modalities to help alleviate psychological symptoms associated with a client’s pain or health issues.

Kathleen Phelps, LCSW (she)

Kathleen Phelps, LCSW has been providing mental health therapy for more than 25 years. She specializes in using EMDR to treat complex trauma and health issues, including issues related to chronic illnesses and chronic pain at her private practice in Carlsbad, California. Ms. Phelps is the current EMDR San Diego Regional Co-Coordinator, and is an EMDR Certified Therapist, Approved Consultant and an EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program (HAP) Training Facilitator.

Ms. Phelps began treating eating disorders in 2001, which led to treating clients with multiple other health conditions, including chronic illness and chronic pain. Ms. Phelps is certified in DBT and uses that modality in conjunction with EMDR. She has completed extensive advanced training in EMDR therapy and related trauma-based intervention protocols for the treatment of chronic illness, chronic pain, dissociation, and other mental health conditions.  Additionally, Ms. Phelps also provides expert witness reports and testimony relating to trauma and EMDR treatment.

Ms. Phelps has also been teaching undergraduate and graduate students since 2006. She is a professor at the School of Social Work at San Diego State University, where she teaches future clinicians how to be competent therapists.