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Our Next Lecture

Navigating Complexities When Delivering EMDR Therapy

Marianne Silva, LCSW

Wednesday, February 21 at 2:00pm ET 

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

About the Presenter

Marianne Silva, LCSW is a clinical social worker in private practice in Connecticut and New York who has extensive experience delivering Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in both residential and outpatient settings. Ms. Silva is certified in EMDR and is an approved consultant through the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). She served many years in VA Connecticut's PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program and had a senior role in the outpatient PTSD program, where she was involved in the education, supervision and delivery of evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD. Ms. Silva is an avid believer in shared decision-making and educating Veterans and families on treatments that are founded in research and clinical expertise. Ms. Silva received her MSW from Columbia University.

About the Topic

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a protocol-driven treatment that is a recommended treatment for PTSD across most international guidelines including the Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense (VA/DoD) Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of PTSD, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Despite the growth of EMDR training and practice resources since its inception in 1987, providers may face challenges such as complex client presentations. This lecture will offer strategies for providing EMDR to special populations within various treatment settings while maintaining fidelity to the standard EMDR protocol. 

Featured Article

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing for PTSD

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma-focused psychotherapy that is one of the most studied treatments for PTSD. A large number of studies demonstrate it is effective to treat PTSD when administered over approximately 3 months. EMDR has the strongest recommendation for being an effective treatment in most clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of PTSD.

Read our full summary for clinicians

Free Resources

Client Education for EMDR

The following free tools are available to assist with shared decision-making for PTSD treatment and to help your clients and their loved ones learn about EMDR.

EMDR for PTSD: Our webpage, written in plain language with video clips

EMDR: Helping During Treatment: Our webpage for loved ones of those in EMDR

Whiteboard Video: An illustrated 4-minute video that introduces EMDR

Podcast:  This episode of PTSD Bytes includes an interview with our consultant Marianne Silva, LCSW who explains EMDR in plain language (12 minutes)

AboutFace EMDR Story: Through a series of brief videos, follow Rogelio “Roger” Rodriguez through his experience with EMDR. Hear about why he chose EMDR, what it was like, and how it changed his life.  You can also search AboutFace and use the filter to find more videos of Veterans who have completed EMDR.

PTSD Treatment Decision Aid:  An online tool to help people compare the recommended treatments for PTSD, including EMDR

If you are treating Veterans and have a question about any of these resources, our consultants can help.  See our contact information below.

Learn or Teach Others about the CPG for PTSD

Since the release of the updated Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for PTSD last year, our team has been developing a variety of materials to help clinicians learn about its recommendations.  These materials can also be used to help educate interns, new staff members, and others. 

Visit our website to explore these free resources:

• Provider handouts
• Tools for prescribing clinicians
• A slide deck summarizing key recommendations
• Recorded webinars with continuing education credit
• Relevant related publications
• Consultation for providers who treat Veterans

Are you treating U.S. Veterans?

Our team of expert clinicians is available to consult with any healthcare provider treating U.S. veterans in any setting.   We can discuss assessment, diagnosis, psychotherapy, medications, collaborating with VA care, patient and family education, continuing education, and just about anything else related to veterans and PTSD.  No question is too big or too small. Contact us at PTSDconsult@va.gov or 866-948-7880.