Services

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy

EMDR is an evidenced-based treatment that is rooted in the idea that our past informs our present. We are often not consciously aware of, nor are we thinking about, how our past experiences inform our present responses to ourselves, others, and the world. EMDR therapists help clients make past-present connections to better understand the development of their current responses to problems in life. We then target the past experiences that shaped one’s symptoms and the present triggers for those responses. As an emotion-focused treatment, EMDR helps people safely explore, experience, and make sense of their emotions, thoughts, physical sensations, and urges in response to past, present, and anticipated experiences. EMDR is an effective treatment for people struggling in their relationships with themselves and/or others.

Please visit the EMDR International Associations’s website to learn more about the body’s natural healing system and how EMDR allows your neurological system to heal from past experiences that are affecting your present problems.

Kelly is pleased to offer individual EMDR consultation for clinicians who have completed an EMDRIA-approved training and are interested in deepening their understanding and application of EMDR as a form of relational psychotherapy and who are integrating EMDR into their practice.

I am an EMDR Consultant-in-Training and have the privilege of training with Deany Laliotis, LICSW and Mary French BSN, LCSW-C, two lead trainers at The Center for Excellence in EMDR. As an EMDR psychotherapist, I continue to receive individual and group consultation on a regular basis to continue learning and growing as a clinician. EMDR consultation is a critical aspect of learning and improving in the art and science of EMDR Psychotherapy.

Through individual consultation, clinicians are able to improve their case conceptualizations and learn how to move clients along through the process of EMDR therapy. EMDR Consultation addresses the following issues and more:

- Building confidence in and how to apply EMDR

- Improving EMDR AIP case conceptualization skills

- Conceptualizing through an attachment lens

- Strengthening skills to assess a client’s readiness and needed preparation for EMDR memory reprocessing

- Clinical decision making regarding client readiness for processing, where to begin, and treatment planning

- Working with defenses/adaptations that inevitably arise during reprocessing

- Parts work during reprocessing

- Working with transference and countertransference that arises during reprocessing

- Addressing technical issues

- Review of basic EMDR protocol and other special protocols as needed.

- Client session transcript review to I enjoy the collaborative and relational process of consultation and work with clinicians at varying levels of EMDR experience and expertise.

I'm passionate about supporting clinicians who use EMDR to guide their clients on the path of healing and exclusively work with consultees who are committed to learning and growing in this practice. As your consultant, I will get to know you, how you learn, and what your goals are so we can effectively work together. Requirements for consultation services: Must be an independent, licensed clinician; carry liability insurance; and have completed EMDRIA approved basic training. If working toward certification, consultees must write up cases and present/review transcripts of EMDR sessions.

Please contact me directly for consultation inquiries: kellyalpertlcswc@gmail.com

Please visit https://emdrtherapy.com/ for more information on EMDRIA approved basic, intermediate, and advanced trainings through The Center for Excellence in EMDR.

EMDR Consultation for Clinicians

Contextually-Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy

C-DBT is a contextual therapeutic approach from what is known as the third-wave of behaviorism. C-DBT was created by Paul Holmes, PsyD, and it is a combination of the processes of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) within the framework of DBT. C-DBT is a person-centered approach that focuses on process, function, and workability.

In C-DBT we learn to accept that certain aspects of our experiences are out of our control (ie. our private experiences: thoughts, emotions, urges as well as others’ private experiences and behaviors) and that attempting to control them is a naturally enticing, yet futile and costly approach. Many of us get stuck in a cycle of avoiding and escaping painful emotions in ways that are effective in relieving short term emotional pain but that don’t align with our values and commitments. They do not move us toward our longer term goals, and this keeps us stuck in a cycle of chronic distress.

Together we will examine the workability of your avoidance and escape behaviors and, when appropriate, make a commitment to learn and practice new, more effective ways to manage those problems that are in line with your values and get you closer to a fulfilling life-- whatever that may look like for you. This practice centers on first learning how to accept– have emotions, thoughts, urges, etc. without having to do something to change them (ERP with emotional experiencing). This freedom then allows us to respond in line with values and commitments. This work happens within the context of our relationship and outside of sessions in your day-to-day life.

C-DBT is an emerging treatment that has not yet gone through the research process needed to become an evidence-based treatment, even though its subcomponents of ACT, FAP, and DBT are all evidence-based treatments. C-DBT is in the process of developing empirical support for its efficacy. At this time, it fits within what the American Psychological Association defines as “the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences.”

We offer comprehensive C-DBT, which includes C-DBT individual therapy, C-DBT group therapy, phone coaching, and the therapist's participation on a weekly C-DBT consultation team.