Total Credits: 1.5 APA Credit
Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Pastoral Ministers
Course Level: Advanced
Learning Objectives:
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an evidence-based treatment approach for posttraumatic stress disorder and other issues proceeding from adverse and unprocessed or maladaptively processed experience. Culturally-sensitive adaptations of EMDR therapy have been reported to increase the comfort-level for clients and positive treatment outcomes in recent years; similarly, active and attuned adaptations of psychotherapy to fit the religious beliefs of the client have been shown to be highly effective.
Several approaches to inner healing prayer as an avenue to spiritual and psychological healing have gained both popularity and credibility among the Catholic population. The approach offered by the John Paul II Healing Center has been previously illustrated to correspond closely to the steps and elements of the standard protocol of EMDR therapy.
This workshop will offer a conceptual overview of EMDR therapy and inner healing prayer, followed by a discussion of elements, phases, and interventions within EMDR therapy that lend themselves to integration of language and elements of inner healing prayer. Please note: Content included in this workshop presumes that participants have completed an accredited EMDR therapy training. While participants who are not yet trained in EMDR may benefit from the material presented, the presenters advise completion of said training before the contents of this workshop can be ethically employed.
The Catholic Psychotherapy Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Catholic Psychotherapy Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
EMDR in a Catholic Context (12.93 MB) | Available after Purchase |
Elizabeth Heuertz, MA, LPC, is a member of Intuitus Group in Cedar Park, Texas. She has provided psychotherapy services for adolescents and adults since 2015. Elizabeth completed training in prayer ministry in 2016 through the John Paul II Healing Center and has participated in numerous healing retreats through their ministry. She completed training in EMDR therapy in 2017. Elizabeth co-presented the poster “Integrating Psychological Healing with Spiritual Healing: Comparing and Contrasting EMDR with Inner Healing Prayer” at the 2019 Catholic Psychotherapy Association Annual Conference. She specializes in the integration of healing prayer and EMDR in the treatment of trauma and relational wounds.