Combat Infantry OIF/OEF Veteran several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, diagnosed with PTSD, difficulty leaving the house, couldn’t be around groups to include family gatherings, could not fly, anger was the default emotion. Veteran felt guilty about the impact on family, “I feel like I am letting them down, they would be better off without me”. EMDR 1.0 and 2.0 over the course of six months. Established safety and trust in the therapeutic relationship: client directed goal setting. First goal: direct focus on combat events. After first session began to feel more comfortable being with family in group settings. After the course of two more targeted EDMR sessions anger decreased, family said how much they meant to them, felt comfortable going on trips, flew in an airplane for the first time since. Still twelve months later: “Thank you so much for all of your help, you changed my life around and helped me identify and tackle my PTS and its’ causes”.

Sexual assault in circumstance difficult to establish safety. Currently in relationship with loving spouse and children, solid career and start up expert. Anxiety and fear of being in enclosed spaces with no ready exit, fight or flight response active to include difficulty breathing. Established safety and trust in the therapeutic relationship: client directed goal setting. EMDR 2.0 for complex trauma: two reprocessing sessions directly on the trauma. First session could not talk about the event, at the end of the session spoke freely about the event and felt no disruption, felt empowered to share and to help others with similar experience. Second session on current situation where experiences extreme triggering; at end of session visualized the situation with no disruption. Report later stating having done the activity, “had fun, felt strong, and I didn’t feel any fight or flight”.

Client with multiple (7) car collisions caused by others, chronic injury and pain, one life threatening. Unable to drive both on freeways and in town, trauma response strong enough to prevent being comfortable as a passenger, others had to drive. EMDR 2.0 provided: Phase IV-VIII, single session reprocessing, somatic identification utilized. Trauma response during session decreased from 10 to 0, remained at 0 after session. Client reports having driven from home to airport and back twice on the freeway both with a passenger and alone, reports absolutely no trauma activation, was calm, and “had fun”.