EMDR Therapy Treatment for Grief and Mourning: Transforming the Connection to the Deceased Loved One

The loss of a loved one can be very painful, with the mourner losing an important source of safety, connection, and life balance. Even when uncomplicated, bereavement can have a significant impact on the mourner. Traumatic circumstances can intensify the grief and complicate the mourning process.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy, an evidenced based treatment for trauma, can help process the trauma of the loss and the obstacles that interfere with the grief and mourning process. In this book, Roger M. Solomon guides the EDMR therapist through the treatment process by understanding grief reactions and the mourning process, providing an overall model of EMDR treatment for grief and mourning, and highlighting how EMDR can help a mourner experience a positive sense of connection through heartfelt, meaningful memories.

The author presents an integrative model for EMDR therapy treatment based on the Adaptive Information Processing Model (AIP), which guides EMDR therapy. Several models of grief and mourning that inform EMDR treatment and a discussion of the eight phases and three prongs (past, present, and future) of EMDR therapy are presented, with many case examples including transcripts of sessions, to illustrate treatment principles and clinical teaching points.