EMDR Therapy Quarterly

Services to members: Update

In the Summer edition of ETQ (2021 Vol 3 No 3) I wrote about some of the changes that we have made to help improve the services we provide to you, our members.  Some of the changes are already in place and hopefully, by now, you are experiencing the benefits.  Some of these developments were relatively easy to implement.  For example, Katy Bell (Press and PR) regularly adds (see ‘News and features’ on the homepage) new media stories that document the benefits of EMDR therapy, a reflection of the growing public awareness of EMDR.  The promotional video I referred to in the Summer edition in which some of our members talk about the benefits of becoming a member is now available on the Homepage of the website (‘Why become a member of the EMDR UK Association’). 

Other proposed changes are more complex and so take more time and resources to develop and implement.  That said, good progress is being made.  For example, we are moving forward in our efforts to digitalise the Accreditation process.  Bear with us as we do this because it is a complicated process but one that will be worthwhile for everyone seeking Accreditation and Re-accreditation in the future.  Similarly, design work on developing an ‘EMDR Hub’ is well underway. This will be a moderated forum to share experiences, ideas and resources amongst members. Justin Havens is leading on this with support from a small Development Team including Sharon Mahers, Sharon Croskin, Rachel Wesley and Dannie Rosenhammer.

A more recent development is a Working Group focussing on developing a draft social media strategy with a view to the Association developing a social media presence.  Justin Havens  together with Katy Bell and members, Laura Beech and Victoria Walford, are the team working on this.

We are also keen to recruit from the membership an ‘Events Co-ordinator’ to source future speakers for webinars and CPD events and to link with BCS who will continue to run / organise the events.  If you are interested contact BCS at admin@emdrassociation.org.uk

Governance: Update

Thanks are also due to members who have come forward to join a newly formed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee.  The role of the EDI Committee will be: To raise awareness and be responsible for making recommendations to the Board on issues that relate to equality, diversity and inclusion.  The Board of Trustees is particularly appreciative of the time and effort put in by our members on these projects.

Consultants Training

A significant development is an increase in the number of Consultants Training opportunities in the coming year.  Currently, Sandi Richman provides the Consultants Training twice a year.  From 2022, there will be an additional training offered by Robin Logie, EMDR Europe Accredited Trainer. This training will be held in September 2022  and, initially, will be offered to NHS clinicians who wish to progress towards Consultant accreditation. The decision to target NHS clinicians arises from the publication of the Competency Framework for EMDR published earlier this year for IAPT services and the expected NHS England / Health Education England EMDR Training Curriculum associated with this.  A consequence of this is that there will be a greater need for EMDR Consultants within NHS services and it is in the interests of the EMDR community that these Consultants meet the criteria for accreditation as EMDR Europe Accredited Consultants.

This increase in capacity to support Consultants-in-training is an important development for at least two reasons.  Firstly, our membership continues to increase (and is around 5000 at present).  Secondly, the number of  EMDR Consultants has remained relatively static over the past four years.  The obvious solution is to support more of our members to become accredited Consultants, not least so that they can then offer supervision to members seeking Accreditation. While obvious, this solution is not as straightforward as it appears.  As a Board, we recognise this and are actively looking at how we can best address this issue.

A fond farewell

You might have noticed from our recent advert that the Association is seeking to appoint an Editor for ETQ.  Our current Editor, Omar Sattaur, has decided to step down as Editor after eleven years.  Omar was the very first Editor and has seen our Newsletter/ Magazine/Journal through several iterations including the latest digital version of ETQ.  Fortunately, Omar is not departing EMDR and will remain an active member of the Association.  His ideas, reflections  and creativity will always be welcome.  As a member of the editorial committee during his tenure I can testify to his dedication, energy, and hard work over the years. Being an Editor can be very rewarding particularly when you support a nervous contributor through to the final publication.  My experience of Omar is that he has always shown remarkable patience, kindness, support towards others and commitment to publicising EMDR therapy to the EMDR community and beyond.

I am sure you will wish to join me in expressing our thanks to him for his contribution to the development of EMDR and to wish him all the best for the future.

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