Abstract It is well-established in both the EMDR therapy and complex trauma-dissociative disorders literatures that self-state/parts-focused work with clients is frequently not only helpful but also necessary to achieve stabilization/containment, trauma resolution, and integration of treatment gains into how a person functions in day-to-day life. With limited exceptions, interventions both within and outside the EMDR therapy tradition focus on certain tasks in working with perpetrator-imitating parts, often referred to in the psychodynamically-influenced literature as perpetrator ‘introjects’.
With limited exceptions, interventions both within and outside the EMDR therapy tradition focus on particular tasks in working with perpetrator introjects: 1) orienting the introject to the realities of the present, the body, and the whole self; 2) persuading the introject to ‘stand down’ or reconsider what ‘protection’ could look like; 3) and, helping other states feel less afraid of the introject. The exceptions noted include interventions involving either hypnotically-driven abreactions; or reducing the charge of negative beliefs; or, containing dissociative, emotional intrusions from the introject. However, there are both conceptual and practical issues that may limit some of these approaches’ effectiveness in facilitating lasting, adaptive resolution of the at-times profound harm inflicted upon the self by perpetrator introjects in the name of survival.
We will look at phenomena that help explain the development of perpetrator-identifying parts; discuss the functions they can serve within, and the impact they can have upon, the self-system; review the existing approaches to working with these parts both within and outside EMDR therapy practice, including their benefits and potential limitations; and, examine a novel, yet highly-effective, approach developed by the presenter that can permanently unbind perpetrator-identifying parts, which integrates Ego State Therapy, clinical hypnosis, and EMDR therapy. The treatment frames informing the approach will be established; necessary preparatory tasks and precautions for its safe use will be laid out; and, the protocol itself will be described through case example.
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this session participants will be able to:
Summarize the hypothesized phenomena underlying the development of a perpetrator introject
Name three existing approaches to working with perpetrator-identifying self-states
Describe two reasons that mapping a client’s self-system early in treatment may be helpful
Enumerate the six components of the Introject Decathexis protocol
Identify at least two precautions for employing the Introject Decathexis protocol
