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.

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.

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.

I'm Ready to Help Clients See Real Breakthroughs

Why TTI

Built for Learning. Designed for Belonging.

Shame-Free Space for Learning™

Because the best learning happens when you feel safe. Ask freely, show up fully, and learn in a relational, non-judgmental environment built for practitioners like you.

Expert Clinical Training

Expect real case examples, clear guidance, and a teaching style that makes even complex topics feel approachable so you can confidently use what you learn in session right away.

Where Learning Meets Community

Join a community of clinicians learning side by side, sharing real case insights and peer support so you can grow your skills with confidence alongside your peers in meaningful connection.

Practical Skills

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 Get

What's Waiting for You Inside This Training

Addiction-specific EMDR protocols

Apply DeTUR, FSAP, CravEx, and Connecting the Consequences to substance use, process addictions, and compulsive coping.

Volkow's three-phase addiction model

Use the Binge, Withdrawal, and Preoccupation framework to guide EMDR case conceptualization and treatment planning.

The Buzzkill™ protocol

Learn Gerard Ilaria's signature EMDR innovation for un-pairing positive affect from addictive behaviors.

Trauma-informed addiction framework

Map how trauma reshapes reward, memory, and motivation systems, and bring that lens into your EMDR work.

Future template rehearsals

Build relapse prevention plans for high-risk moments like bars, social media scrolling, and late-night isolation.

Preparation for high-risk clients

Sequence resourcing and reprocessing to support distress tolerance and prevent destabilization.

Lifetime on-demand access

Learn at your own pace and return to the material whenever a client presentation calls for it.

Free community membership

Join TTI's shame-free community for ongoing peer conversations and resources. No cost, no catch.

Is This For You?

Who Is This Training For

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:

Understand addiction through a trauma and neurobiological lens, including how trauma reshapes reward, memory, and motivation systems
Apply Nora Volkow's three-phase addiction model (Binge, Withdrawal, Preoccupation) to case conceptualization and treatment planning
Use EMDR's 8-phase protocol to target triggers, cravings, relapse memories, and root trauma in clients navigating addiction
Distinguish when to prioritize resourcing versus reprocessing to prevent destabilization in high-risk clients
Work with specialized EMDR protocols for addiction treatment, including DeTUR, FSAP, and Knipe's techniques
Combine addiction-specific protocols with standard EMDR procedures for complex presentations
Build distress tolerance, affect regulation, and safety for clients who rely on addictive behaviors for regulation
Address shame, spiritual injury, and relational ruptures that frequently derail recovery work
Design EMDR future templates that anticipate real-life relapse risks and compulsive urges
Identify where EMDR and addictions interventions fit within your broader trauma therapist training pathway, and what next steps make sense for working with dissociation, complex PTSD, and overlapping presentations

Throughout the course, you'll see how EMDR can move clients beyond insight alone toward genuine nervous system change, reduced shame, and more sustainable recovery.

I'm Ready to Rewire Compulsive Patterns

Meet Your Trainer

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

Course Details

Agenda

Welcome, objectives, and presenter introduction
Introduction to addiction, trauma, and EMDR fundamentals
Addiction neurobiology and EMDR Phase 1–2 resourcing foundations
Resourcing techniques and addiction-specific EMDR protocols
Future template and Buzzkill™ protocol for behavior change
Wrap-up, key takeaways, and Q&A

Learning Objectives

Describe and apply EMDR resource interventions for substance use and compulsive behaviors.
Identify and categorize EMDR resourcing strategies based on treatment stage and clinical goals.
Analyze when to use reprocessing versus resource installation to support addiction recovery.
Analyze reprocessing techniques for working with cravings and urges.

Prerequisites

EMDR Basic Training

Continuing Education

4 CEs are available upon completion of all course material.

Trauma Therapist Institute is an approved continuing education provider. ACE, NBCC and EMDRIA CEs are available for this course. APA CEs are not available for this course.

Participants must complete the full training to receive credit.

ACE Approved Provider

Trauma Therapist Institute, #1869, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 1/16/25 - 1/16/28. Social workers completing this course receive 4 clinical continuing education credits.

NBCC Approved Provider

Trauma Therapist Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7033. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Kase & CO is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

EMDRIA Approved Provider

Trauma Therapist Institute is an EMDRIA Approved Training Provider. TTI courses are individually approved. CE Certificate will contain course approval number.

Course Completion

To receive a CE certificate, participants must complete the entire course, complete the post-test with a score of 80% or above, and complete the course evaluation. You may retake the post-test as needed. Once completed, a CE certificate will auto-populate to your online account.

Cancellation Policy

Please reference our cancellation policy here (bottom section of this page).