PTI Blog
PTI Blog
Cognitive Interweaves in EMDR: What Works, When to Use Them, and When to Step Back
TL;DR: Cognitive interweaves aren’t “mini CBT.” They’re brief, attuned prompts used only when EMDR processing stalls—e.g., looping, shame, or dysregulation. Keep them short (one out-breath), offer them as an experiment, then return to BLS and let the client’s system...
Uncovering Trauma: How EMDR Therapists Can Work Through Protective Adaptations
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder Unresolved trauma doesn’t always show up as flashbacks or panic attacks. Often, it hides beneath layers of protective adaptations, patterns of behavior, emotion, and belief that once served to protect...
From Presenting Issue to Touchstone Memory in EMDR: A Somatic and Attachment-Informed Approach
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder When clients arrive in therapy, they often bring surface-level symptoms—anxiety, relationship struggles, emotional reactivity—but beneath those symptoms lie deeper patterns shaped by early life experiences. In our recent webinar, “From...
Treatment Planning and Finding the Targets in EMDR: What Every Therapist Should Know
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder At the Personal Transformation Institute (PTI), our monthly free webinars are designed to help clinicians deepen their understanding of trauma and refine their skills in EMDR therapy. In our latest session—Treatment Planning and Finding the...
Unlocking the Power of EMDR: Highlights from Our Free Webinar
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder At the Personal Transformation Institute (PTI), we’re passionate about sharing the life-changing potential of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. In our most recent free webinar, attended by clinicians across the...
Effectiveness of Virtual EMDR Therapy and Training
By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder Virtual EMDR Benefits and Considerations In 2020 we experienced a global pandemic crisis threw many into panic mode and it threw some of us into action mode. Crisis is an opportunity for growth and change. The Personal Transformation...
Why SAFE EMDR Approach?
By Deb Kennard, Founder of the Personal Transformation Institute and Developer of the SAFE EMDR approach. SAFE EMDR was developed by me, Deb Kennard, in 2014. I was fortunate to be introduced to EMDR in 1995 and even more fortunate to have been trained by Francine...
Finding the Real Problem in Therapy: The Universal Theme
By Deb Kennard,PTI Founder Freedom is possible. At the Personal Transformation Institute we see amazing transformation happen. We offer a somatic and attachment lens and unique tools that invite an opportunity to access the true experiential root of a problem or...
Embodied Compassion
Principles for Effective Treatment and Living By Deb Kennard, PTI Founder There are some principles I believe are important for effective clinical treatment, these principles are imperative if working with trauma. I will be exploring how some important principles are...
From Surviving to Thriving: The Secret to Transformation and Freedom
By Deb Kennard, Founder of the Personal Transformation Institute. Deb offers a free live webinar every month. This will be the topic of her webinar airing on Dec. 1, 2020 from 1:00 to 3:00 EST. This year has been a difficult time for so many, it is a time of...