Fort Hood Tragedy

By Scott Blech, Executive Director, EMDRIA

EMDRIA and the EMDR community extend their heartfelt sympathies to the military and families affected by last week’s tragedy at Fort Hood. There is an EMDR network in place in Texas ready to assist those in need.  Fort Hood has a staff of approximately 10-12 Army Family Life Chaplains who are EMDR-trained. Also, several of the Case Managers/staff at Moore Clinic, Fort Hood, attended a recent workshop (EMDR and the Treatment of War Survivors: Working with the Latest Generation) conducted by Dr. Steve Silver last month in Atlanta.

The VA’s Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)   teams have been notified to be on alert (and, some of them are EMDR trained).  And, there is a network of civilian clinicians under the direction of EMDRIA Member Maxine Trent that has been serving Fort Hood soldiers and families through a grant funded (TRIAD) project called “Homefront” under Scott & White Memorial Hospital.  In addition to EMDR clinicians near the base, clinicians in the Waco, Austin and Dallas areas have offered assistance. We appreciate the great outpouring of concern and offers for help and that all is being done that can be done at this time. The military may be calling on civilian resources later as needed.

Spread the Word About EMDR In Your Community

At EMDRIA we strive to spread the word that EMDR is an effective, evidence-based therapy, but one of the most effective means of accomplishing this goal is for our members to speak out on a local level.

Many of our members have taken the initiative to reach out to local reporters and news outlets to explain EMDR, discuss relevant local EMDR news and explain how national EMDR news relates to their community. By doing so, they not only spread knowledge of EMDR, but they also promote their practice and offer an effective methodology to local citizens that suffer from trauma.

A great example of this is a recent article in The Advocate which serves Berkshire and Bennington Counties, MA in which Valerie Sheehan, LICSW was interviewed. Read the article here.

Please consider contacting news outlets in your area to explain EMDR, announce the opening of a new clinic, or discuss EMDR as it relates to a local event.

WANTED: New Members for EMDRIA’s Regional Coordinating Committee

Are you interested in helping to guide EMDRIA’s Regional Coordinating Program? Then you should consider joining EMDRIA’s Regional Coordinating Committee.

The EMDRIA Regional Coordinating Committee advises the Executive Director regarding policies and procedures for the selection of Regional Coordinators and development of new Regions, provides information and ideas that assist Regional Coordinators in conducting meetings, and helps resolve any problems/issues.

It is required that members interested in serving on the Regional Coordinating Committee meet the following qualifications:

1.   Certification with EMDRIA
2.   Interest in promoting the goals of EMDRIA and the Regional Coordinating Committee
3.   Access to a computer and email
4.   Ability to attend monthly teleconference call meetings

If interested, please contact Laura Hoye at lhoye@emdria.org.

How to Renew Your Membership

As the year draws to a close, many of our members have begun to call and ask how they can renew their EMDRIA membership because they are aware that all EMDRIA Memberships expire December 31, 2009.  There are three ways to renew your EMDRIA membership:

1. Online — To renew your membership online, please log in to the members only area of the EMDRIA website and click “Renew Your EMDRIA Membership” in the upper left hand corner, then  follow the simple steps you are presented with and pay via credit card.
2. Mail/Fax — You will receive a membership invoice in the mail sometime in the next month and a half, which you can fill out and return via mail or fax with credit card information, or with a check if you choose to mail the form.
3. Phone — You can call  EMDRIA today (512.451.5200 or toll-free to the US and Canada at 866.451.5200) and renew your membership over the phone with a credit card and  beat the renewal rush.

Please select the method that is easiest for you and renew as soon as possible! We look forward to your continued EMDRIA membership!

EMDRIA Printed Directories

As part of our Go Green Program, EMDRIA is producing one more printed membership directory (to be released in Spring 2010) as a Membership Benefit.  Starting in 2011, EMDRIA will only offer its online membership directory as a Membership Benefit, but that should not be cause for alarm!

Reasons to Use the Online Directory:

1. Support the EMDRIA Go Green Program, save trees!
2. It is updated weekly, so you will always have the most complete and up to date information available!
3. You can print pages of people in your area with your own printer for reference and save the other hundreds of pages you never use!

When you join EMDRIA or renew for 2010, please choose to Go Green by selecting the online membership directory!