Compassion-Focused EMDR therapy in the treatment of Moral Injury and Shame-based Trauma

Presenter: Prof Derek Farrell MBE – Professor in Trauma Psychology & Veteran Studies, Northumbria University, and Queen’s University Belfast., EMDR  Europe Accredited Senior Trainer & Consultant, & BABCP Accredited CBT therapist. 

9.30 – 4.30 11^th October 2025. By Zoom. The session will be recorded.

Abstract: Many of the symptoms experienced by traumatised individuals are not  sufficiently captured by the existing ICD-11/DSM 5 criterion for PTSD, particularly when  those symptoms include feelings of shame/ guilt, loneliness, social isolation, fear of  recrimination, and moral injury. Addressing these specific elements, particularly regarding  moral injury/ is increasingly important.

Moral injury refers to the psychological distress resulting from events that transgress an  individual’s moral or ethical beliefs. Compassion Focused Eye Movement Desensitization and  Reprocessing (EMDR) is an emerging treatment approach for individuals experiencing moral  injury. The approach integrates EMDR with compassion-focused techniques to target the shame,  guilt, and self-criticism often associated with moral injury/ trauma.

This presentation explores the core components of moral injury and shame-based trauma using both individual and political case studies, through the lens of Adaptive Information  Processing (AIP).

Specific skills within Compassion-Focussed EMDR therapy (CF-EMDR), will include CF EMDR informed case conceptualisation, psychoeducational frameworks, trauma regulation, strategies, compassion-focussed interweaves, and addressing vicarious  traumatisation and self-care.

Learning Outcomes:
1. Participants will consider the core components of Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) and how this applies to more vulnerable and complex populations with a specific focus on moral injury and shame-based trauma
2. Participants will explore various theoretical frameworks to explicate the trauma landscape of the client’s lived experience through a moral, and compassion-focussed lens
3. Theoretical, empirical, and clinical case examples will be utilised to underpin knowledge, understanding and application

Speaker Biography:

Prof Derek Farrell MBE is a Professor in Trauma Psychology and Veterans Affairs at the University of Northumbria (Newcastle), and Queen’s University Belfast. Derek is President of Trauma Aid International, EMDR All Ireland, and the Trauma Response Network Ireland. He has been involved in several Humanitarian Trauma capacity-building programmes, including Pakistan, Turkey, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Lebanon, Poland, Philippines, Palestine, and Iraq. Derek has authored over 60 academic peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters and is the Co-Editor of the Journal of EMDR Practice & Research, and the Oxford Handbook of EMDR therapy. As a keynote speaker – Derek has presented in the USA, Canada, Australia, Cambodia, Thailand, Pakistan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Italy, Brazil, and Norway. Derek is also involved in several ongoing research programmes including treating moral injury with Law Enforcement (Vermont, USA); EMDR with adults with intellectual disabilities; and death by suicide within military/ veteran populations. In 2024, Derek was the recipient of the prestigious EMDRIA Francine Shapiro Award, for international contribution to EMDR.

6 CPD credits have been awarded by the EMDR Association UK.

Cost: £70 EMDR UK members, £120 non-members.