EMDR Advanced Training
EMDR for the Treatment of Addictions and Compulsions
Trainer: Gerard Ilaria, LCSW-R
On-Demand: Available with lifetime access for asynchronous learning. This course was recorded on November 13th, 2025. Â
In clinical practice, addictions and compulsive behaviors are rarely “bad habits”. They are survival strategies rooted in trauma, attachment wounds, and dysregulated nervous systems. Many EMDR-trained clinicians feel confident with single‑incident trauma, but less sure when addiction, shame, dissociation, and complex trauma collide.Â
This advanced EMDR training is designed to bridge that gap. EMDR for the Treatment of Addictions and Compulsions gives trauma therapists a clear, neuro-informed pathway to integrate EMDR into addiction treatment, reduce relapse risk, and support sustainable recovery.
This on-demand program is ideal for clinicians who want to deepen their trauma therapist training with practical, session-ready EMDR interventions specifically tailored to substance use, process addictions, and compulsive coping patterns.
Practical Interventions You’ll Learn
By the end of this EMDR & addictions training, you’ll be able to:
- Apply the Feeling-State Addiction Protocol (FSAP) to identify and reprocess the positive feeling-states that drive substance and process addictions.
- Use the CravEx Protocol to target and reduce cravings linked to relapse memories, high‑risk situations, and trigger cues.
- Integrate the Connecting the Consequences Protocol to disrupt euphoric recall and link addictive behavior with real‑world negative outcomes.
- Use the Buzzkill™ Protocol (EMDR Innovation) to un-pair positive affect from addictive behaviors and re‑associate it with adaptive choices and resources.
- Design future template rehearsals for high‑risk moments (e.g., walking past a bar, scrolling social media, late‑night isolation) using EMDR’s 8‑phase framework.
- Integrate EMDR with 12-step and recovery work by targeting blocks to trust, shame, spiritual injury, and barriers to community connection.
These protocols are presented in a clear, step‑by‑step format so you can immediately apply them in EMDR sessions with clients navigating addiction, compulsions, and complex trauma.
What You’ll Learn in This EMDRIA Approved Advanced Training
This advanced EMDR training builds on your basic EMDR skills and expands your capacity to work confidently with addictions, compulsions, and trauma‑linked coping strategies.
You’ll learn how to:Â
- Understand addiction through a trauma and neurobiological lensÂ
- Map how trauma reshapes reward, memory, and motivation systems in the brain.
- Use Nora Volkow’s three‑phase addiction model (Binge, Withdrawal, Preoccupation) to conceptualize cases and treatment planning.Â
- Use EMDR’s 8‑phase protocol with addictionsÂ
- Identify when and how to target triggers, cravings, relapse memories, and root trauma.
- Distinguish when to prioritize resourcing vs. reprocessing to prevent destabilization.Â
- Apply specialized EMDR protocols for addiction treatmentÂ
- Work with DeTUR, FSAP, and Knipe’s techniques in a clear, clinically grounded way.
- Combine these protocols with standard EMDR procedures for complex presentations.Â
- Strengthen preparation and resourcing for high‑risk clientsÂ
- Build distress tolerance, affect regulation, and safety for clients who rely on addictive behaviors for regulation.
- Address shame, spiritual trauma, and relational ruptures that frequently derail recovery work.Â
- Use future templates and relapse‑prevention strategiesÂ
- Design EMDR future templates that anticipate real‑life relapse risks and compulsive urges.
- Integrate EMDR‑based relapse prevention into ongoing trauma therapist training and supervision plans.Â
- Position EMDR within a broader trauma therapist training pathwayÂ
- Understand where EMDR & addictions interventions fit in a larger EMDR training and trauma therapist training journey.
- Identify next‑step trainings for working with dissociation, C‑PTSD, and complex presentations that intersect with addiction.
Throughout the course you’ll see how EMDR can move clients beyond insight alone, toward genuine nervous system change, reduced shame, and more sustainable sobriety.
Who is this course for?
This EMDR & addictions training is designed for:
EMDR‑trained clinicians (EMDR Basic Training required) who treat:
- Substance use disorders
- Process addictions (e.g., gambling, sex, pornography, gaming, spending)
- Compulsive behaviors used for regulation (e.g., food, exercise, self‑harm)
Trauma therapists seeking advanced trauma therapist training that integrates EMDR with addiction, shame, and survival‑based coping.
Clinicians working in:
- Outpatient SUD programs
- IOP/PHP and residential treatment
- Private practice with cross‑addicted and complex trauma clients
EMDR therapists who feel confident with single‑incident trauma but less certain about:
- How to target addiction‑linked memories without destabilizing clients
- What to do when shame shuts down reprocessing
- How to sequence EMDR when trauma, dissociation, and addictions overlap
If you want your EMDR training to directly support your work with addictions and compulsions, and you’re ready for concrete, protocol‑level guidance, this course is a strong next step in your EMDR and trauma therapist training pathway.
"I do this work to help clients find relief and reduce risk. EMDR is so impactful with this population and I wish I had learned these interventions sooner in my career."
- José, inpatient SUD therapist
About Your Trainer, Gerard Ilaria, LCSW-R
Gerard Ilaria, LCSW‑R, is an EMDRIA‑certified EMDR therapist and long‑time trauma specialist with over 35 years of experience in trauma, addiction, and complex clinical presentations. His career began during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, continued with combat veterans with PTSD, and most recently has focused on cross‑addicted members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Gerard’s background includes:
- Serving as Director of the AIDS Program at NewYork‑Presbyterian Hospital.
- Serving as Clinical Director at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Center for Trauma and Addiction, Cornell Medical School’s EMDR trauma treatment practice.
- Teaching EMDR at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in New York City.
- Presenting at EMDR Canada (2023), the EMDRIA 2024 virtual conference, and leading an EMDR Intensive for PESI in Uluru, Australia (2025).
Trained at Columbia University (BA) and Columbia School of Social Work (MSW), Gerard now serves as President of Bilateral Health, LLC, where he focuses on EMDR training, trauma therapy, and advanced EMDR applications for addictions and complex trauma.
His teaching style is practical, trauma‑informed, and clinician‑centered, making this course a valuable addition to your EMDR training and broader trauma therapist training journey.
Additional Information
Agenda
Learning Objectives
Prerequisites
Continuing Education
Course Completion
Cancellation Policy
Free resource from our team!
Addiction is rarely just about substances. These questions will help you find the source.
