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Integrating neurobiology of emotion regulation and trauma therapy: reflections on EMDR therapy

  • Anabel González

    Anabel González Vázquez is a Psychiatrist vinculated to the University Hospital of A Coruña (Spain) where she leads the ‘Trauma and dissociation program’. She also holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the Santiago de Compostela University. She is the author of two books approaching Dissociative Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorders.

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    , Lucía del Río-Casanova

    Lucía Del Río Casanova is an MD and Psychiatrist vinculated to the University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). She is also a PhD student and the subject of the PhD theses is emotion regulation in conversion disorders.

    and Ania Justo-Alonso

    Ania Justo Alonso is a Psychiatrist and PhD student in Neurosciences. She has broad experience in the treatment of trauma-related disorders, especially in psychotic patients. She has completed her studies in Systemic Therapy and EMDR Therapy.

Published/Copyright: January 20, 2017
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Abstract

Emotion dysregulation is a frequent feature in trauma-related disorders. Different kinds of emotion dysregulation seem to be linked to particular psychiatric conditions, and there is growing evidence of the association between neurobiological correlates and those dysregulation patterns. Nevertheless, many of the recent findings from the field of the neurobiology have not been translated into clinical practice and are insufficiently contemplated in trauma-oriented therapies. The aim of this article is to review recent developments in the field of emotion regulation connecting these issue with the practical implementation of psychotherapeutic procedures. The evaluation of emotion dysregulation patterns can guide decision making during the therapy independently to the approach, but there are some findings that can be especially useful for some concrete modalities of therapy. In this article we will focus our discussion on how emotion dysregulation may influence eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment in trauma-related disorders. EMDR is a well-defined and protocol-based intervention, with a strong empirical support for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We describe how different patterns of emotion dysregulation may influence EMDR treatment and procedures, and also how the application of EMDR beyond non-dissociative PTSD should take into account the predominant emotion-regulation strategies in specific posttraumatic disorders.

About the authors

Anabel González

Anabel González Vázquez is a Psychiatrist vinculated to the University Hospital of A Coruña (Spain) where she leads the ‘Trauma and dissociation program’. She also holds a PhD in Psychiatry from the Santiago de Compostela University. She is the author of two books approaching Dissociative Disorders and Borderline Personality Disorders.

Lucía del Río-Casanova

Lucía Del Río Casanova is an MD and Psychiatrist vinculated to the University Hospital of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). She is also a PhD student and the subject of the PhD theses is emotion regulation in conversion disorders.

Ania Justo-Alonso

Ania Justo Alonso is a Psychiatrist and PhD student in Neurosciences. She has broad experience in the treatment of trauma-related disorders, especially in psychotic patients. She has completed her studies in Systemic Therapy and EMDR Therapy.

  1. Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Received: 2016-10-25
Accepted: 2016-11-30
Published Online: 2017-1-20
Published in Print: 2017-5-24

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