Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for Shame Related Offense Trauma in a Justice Involved Individual Presenting With Active Suicidality and Self‐Harm

ABSTRACT

A single‐case study is presented, which describes the application of EMDR for a justice involved health care worker, presenting with active suicidality and self‐harm, within the context of high levels of offense‐related shame. “Alex” was a 42‐year‐old female, serving a prison sentence for Theft. Prior to her offense, Alex was a nurse with an unblemished career. Her offending occurred as a result of her addiction to pain medication. Alex attended 20 treatment sessions, which followed the eight phases of EMDR therapy: (i) history taking; (ii) preparation; (iii) assessment; (iv) desensitization; (v) installation; (vi) body scan; (vii) closure; and (viii) evaluation. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has a growing body of evidence for its effectiveness with offense‐related trauma; shame‐based disorders; and with those presenting with self‐harm and suicidality. Given the postulated link between shame and recidivism, it is perplexing that to‐date there has been no published research pertaining to the psychological treatment of offense‐related shame, specifically. The importance of EMDR case formulation in regard to treatment planning is described. Therapeutic processes and clinical outcome will be discussed. Overall this case‐study builds on the existing research base and highlights the utility of EMDR for the treatment of offense‐related shame, self‐harm and active suicidality.