EMDR and the ‘Tree of Me’

Engaging, and nonthreatening ways to explain trauma, discuss treatment recommendations, and illustrate treatment progress in children and adolescent EMDR – Using the ‘Tree of Me’ and the ‘Seed to Weed Technique’

Overview

Incorporating fun and engaging activities, when gathering lists of not so good experiences, and when providing EMDR on these experiences, is very important for kids and teens. In this training, Kriss Jarecki will teach the “Tree of Me” for gathering target memories and then teach the “Seed to Weed” technique as a metaphor to graphically illustrate symptom etiology, treatment, and resolution using EMDR. Kriss currently serves on the EMDR International Association Board of Directors and was a member of the EMDRIA Standards and Training Committee for four years. She is certified, a consultant and trainer of EMDR and Progressive Counting and also provides advanced trauma trainings. Kriss worked with Ricky Greenwald as a trainer for the Trauma Institute for 8 years and is currently in private practice in New York.

The “Tree of Me” assists clients in gathering their journey of not so good experiences in a fun and engaging way. It normalizes and depathologizes experiences, which help children and adolescent EMDR clients to become more comfortable when sharing those experiences. The “Seed to Weed” technique provides a strategy which offers an opportunity to help a child or adolescent EMDR client to understand the problem and treatment approach, and the ability to see progress in treatment. These crucial areas are important to treatment engagement and success, whether working with children or adults. An illustrated garden metaphor is used to guide a client to look at his or her life experiences and gain an understanding of how events have contributed to the problems and concerns that bring them into therapy. The seed-to-weed technique provides a graphic means of presenting trauma, a treatment plan, tracking treatment progress.

Aims and Learning Objectives: Please click here

Bio – Kriss Jarecki

Kriss Jarecki, LCSWR has been a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 1987. She is an EMDR Consultant and trainer for Progressive Counting and EMDR. Kriss currently serves on the EMDR International Association Board of Directors and was a member of the EMDRIA Standards and Training Committee for four years. She served as a co-regional coordinator for the WNY EMDR Regional Network for 10 years and worked for 7 years as a field instructor for the University of Buffalo School of Social Work in New York. Kriss currently has a private practice serving children through adults and treats challenges such as PTSD, self-injurious behaviours, depression, anxiety, phobias, and adjustment issues. She has over ten years’ experience as a clinician and supervisor in the field of chemical dependency. She has published articles in the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, Traumatology and Counselling and Psychotherapy Research.