Quick, essential techniques to practice ego state therapy, a popular therapeutic approach. Most of us have different aspects, “parts,” or “ego states” of ourselves—the silly and imaginative five-year-old part, for example, or the depressed, anxious, or angry adolescent—which manifest as particular moods, behaviors, and reactions depending on the demands of our external and internal environments. “Ego state therapy” refers to a powerful, flexible therapy that helps clients integrate and reconcile these distinct aspects of themselves. This book offers a grab bag of ego state interventions—simple, practical techniques for a range of client issues—that any therapist can incorporate in his or her practice. In her characteristic wise, compassionate, and user-friendly writing style, Robin Shapiro explains what ego states are, how to access them in clients, and how to use them for a variety of treatment issues. After covering foundational interventions for accessing positive adult states, creating internal caregivers, and working with infant and child states in Part I: Getting Started With Ego State Work, Shapiro walks readers step-by-step through a variety of specific interventions for specific problems, each ready for immediate application with clients. Part II: Problem-Specific Interventions includes chapters devoted to working with trauma, relationship challenges, personality disorders, suicidal ideation, and more. Ego state work blends easily, and often seamlessly, with most other modalities. The powerful techniques and interventions in this book can be used alone or combined with other therapies. They are suitable for garden-variety clients with normal developmental issues like self-care challenges, depression, grief, anxiety, and differentiation from families and peer groups. Many of the interventions included in this book are also effective with clients across the dissociation spectrum—dissociation is a condition particularly well suited to ego state work—including clients who suffer trauma and complex trauma. Rich with case examples, this book is both a pragmatic introduction for clinicians who have never before utilized parts work and a trove of proven interventions for experienced hands to add to their therapeutic toolbox. Welcome to a powerful, flexible resource to help even the most difficult clients build a sense of themselves as adult, loveable, worthwhile, and competent.

Quick, essential techniques to practice ego state therapy, a popular therapeutic approach. Most of us have different aspects, “parts,” or “ego states” of ourselves—the silly and imaginative five-year-old part, for example, or the depressed, anxious, or angry adolescent—which manifest as particular moods, behaviors, and reactions depending on the demands of our external and internal environments. “Ego state therapy” refers to a powerful, flexible therapy that helps clients integrate and reconcile these distinct aspects of themselves. This book offers a grab bag of ego state interventions—simple, practical techniques for a range of client issues—that any therapist can incorporate in his or her practice. In her characteristic wise, compassionate, and user-friendly writing style, Robin Shapiro explains what ego states are, how to access them in clients, and how to use them for a variety of treatment issues. After covering foundational interventions for accessing positive adult states, creating internal caregivers, and working with infant and child states in Part I: Getting Started With Ego State Work, Shapiro walks readers step-by-step through a variety of specific interventions for specific problems, each ready for immediate application with clients. Part II: Problem-Specific Interventions includes chapters devoted to working with trauma, relationship challenges, personality disorders, suicidal ideation, and more. Ego state work blends easily, and often seamlessly, with most other modalities. The powerful techniques and interventions in this book can be used alone or combined with other therapies. They are suitable for garden-variety clients with normal developmental issues like self-care challenges, depression, grief, anxiety, and differentiation from families and peer groups. Many of the interventions included in this book are also effective with clients across the dissociation spectrum—dissociation is a condition particularly well suited to ego state work—including clients who suffer trauma and complex trauma. Rich with case examples, this book is both a pragmatic introduction for clinicians who have never before utilized parts work and a trove of proven interventions for experienced hands to add to their therapeutic toolbox. Welcome to a powerful, flexible resource to help even the most difficult clients build a sense of themselves as adult, loveable, worthwhile, and competent.

"This read truly does have something for everyone who works with trauma and dissociative processes." --American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis "This volume, which takes a multi-perspective approach to the practice of EMDR and Ego State Therapy, presents a wide variety of ways to integrate these two therapies, both with each other and with other complementary methods in the treatment of trauma and dissociation." --European Association for Body Psychotherapy EMDRIA has approved this book for a Distance Learning Book Course for 8 EMDRIA credits. "This book pioneers the integration of EMDR with ego state techniques. and opens new and exciting vistas for the practitioners of each." --From the foreword by John G. Watkins, PhD, founder of ego state therapy "This read truly does have something for everyone who works with trauma and dissociative processes." --American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis "The editors have gathered many experts in the field who explain in clear informative ways how to expand the clinician's abilities to work with this terribly injured population. This book blends concepts from neurobiology, hypnosis, family systems theory and cognitive therapy to enhance treating this population. It is a well written book that the novice as well as the seasoned clinician can benefit from." --Mark Dworkin, author of EMDR and the Relational Imperative "[This book] conveys complex concepts that will be of interest to seasoned therapists... with a clarity that will appeal to the novice as well. This is really a wonderful text with many excellent ideas and I highly recommend it to anyone who treats trauma." --Sarah Chana Radcliffe, M.Ed.,C.Psych.Assoc. Author, Raise Your Kids without Raising Your Voice "I believe that this book is a significant contribution to the fields of psychology and EMDR. It is the first of its kind... anyone who reads this will gain greater confidence in using EMDR and ego state therapy witih highly dissociative and complicated clients." --Sara G. Gilman, in Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Volume 3, 2009 "This is a book about polypsychism and trauma. It offers a number of creative syntheses of EMDR with several models of polypsychism. It also surveys and includes many other models of contemporary trauma theory and treatment techniques. The reader will appreciate its enrichment with case examples and very generous bibliographic material. If you are a therapist who works with patients who have been traumatized, you will want this book in your library." --Claire Frederick, MD, Distinguished Consulting Faculty, Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center "Training in EMDR seems to have spread rapidly among therapists in recent years. In the process, awareness is growing that basic EMDR training may not be adequate to prepare clinicians to effectively treat the many cases of complex trauma and dissociation that are likely to be encountered in general practice. By integrating it with ego state therapy, this book may just serve as a crucial turning point in the development of EMDR by providing a model for productively applying it to the treatment of this important and sizeable clinical population." --Steven N. Gold, PhD, President Elect, APA Division of Trauma The powerful benefits of EMDR in treating PTSD have been solidly validated. In this groundbreaking new work nine master clinicians show how complex PTSD involving dissociation and other challenging diagnoses can be treated safely and effectively. They stress the careful preparation of clients for EMDR and the inclusion of ego state therapy to target the dissociated ego states that arise in response to severe and prolonged trauma.

Emmerson's innovative book presents the theory and practice of working with ego states, helping to understand them, recognize and use them. "will be a very valuable addition to the subject" Professor V M Mathew MBBS DTM&H DPM MRCPsych MPhil, Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director, West Kent NHS and Social Care Trust

If you feel that a friend or loved one has a problem and needs professional help, this step-by-step guide will give you the tools to approach, engage, and support him or her. Just about everyone knows a relative, friend, or coworker who is exhibiting signs of emotional or behavioral turmoil. Yet figuring out how to reach out to that person can feel insurmountable. We know it is the right thing to do, yet many of us hesitate to take action out of fear of conflict, hurt feelings, or damaging the relationship. Through a rich combination of user-friendly tools and real-life stories, Mark S. Komrad, MD, offers step-by-step guidance and support as you take the courageous step of helping a friend who might not even recognize that he or she is in need. He guides you in developing a strong course of action, starting by determining when professional help is needed, then moves you through the steps of picking the right time, making the first approach, gathering allies, selecting the right professional, and supporting friends or relatives as they go through the necessary therapeutic process to resolve their problems. Included are scripts based on Komrad’s work with his own patients, designed to help you anticipate next steps and arm you with the tools to respond constructively and compassionately. You will also find the guidance and information needed to understand mental illness and get past the stigma still associated with it, so you can engage and support your loved one with insight and compassion in his or her journey toward emotional stability and health.

How to start, do, and complete psychotherapy that is trauma-and attachment-based as well as culturally informed. Most books about doing psychotherapy are tied to particular psychotherapeutic practices. Here, seasoned clinical author Robin Shapiro teaches readers the ins and outs of a trauma- and attachment- informed approach that is not tied to any one model or method. This book teaches assessment, treatment plans, enhancing the therapeutic relationship, and ethics and boundary issues, all within a general framework of attachment theory and trauma. Practical chapters talk about working with attachment problems, grief, depression, cultural differences, affect tolerance, anxiety, addiction, trauma, skill- building, suicidal ideation, psychosis, and the beginning and end of therapy. Filled with examples, suggestions for dialogue, and questions for a variety of therapeutic situation, Shapiro’s conversational tone makes the book very relatable. Early- career therapists will refer to it for years to come, and veteran practitioners looking for a refresher (or introduction) to the latest in trauma and attachment work will find it especially useful.