Derek FARRELL

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Principal Lecturer in Psychology – University of Worcester, EMDR Europe Accredited Senior Trainer / BABCP Accredited CBT Therapist / Past-President of EMDR UK & Ireland / Co-Vice President of EMDR Europe / President of Trauma Aid Europe

Dr Derek Farrell is a Principal Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Worcester (UK) where he is Course Director of a MSc EMDR Therapy programme (the world’s first such programme). He is an EMDR Therapy Europe Accredited Senior Trainer and Consultant, a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, and an Accredited Psychotherapist with the British Association of Cognitive & Behavioural Psychotherapies (BABCP). He is Past-President of the EMDR UK & Ireland Board, President of Trauma Aid Europe, Co-Vice President of EMDR Europe Board and Chair of the EMDR Europe Practice Committee.

He has been involved in a number of Humanitarian Trauma Capacity Building programmes in Pakistan, Turkey, India, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Lebanon, Poland, Palestine and Iraq. His PhD in Psychology was researching survivor’s experiences of sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy and consequently has written several publications on this subject matter. In 2013, Derek was the recipient of the ‘David Servan Schreiber Award’ for Outstanding Contribution to EMDR Therapy. In addition, Derek was also shortlisted for the prestigious Times Higher Education Awards (2017) for International Impact due to his Humanitarian Trauma Capacity Building work in Iraq with the Free Yezidi Foundation and the Jiyan Foundation for Torture and Human Rights.

Presentation

EMDR Therapy with Internally Displaced Populations and Refugees as part of Trauma Capacity Building Programmes

Natural disasters and wars account for much of the global burden of psychological trauma - vast in magnitude, immense in its consequences. The World Bank (2011) estimates 1.5 billion people of the global population currently live in countries afflicted by political or criminal violence and war, surmising that approximately 500 million people suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The largest proportion; a majority is women and children. Psychological trauma darkens and scars people’s lives - it is a silent epidemic because much of that trauma remains hidden, especially in the developing world: unrecognized, undiagnosed, and therefore untreated. To date there are more migrant populations displaced that at any time since WWII.

This pre-conference workshop will explore psychological trauma through the lens of IDP’s and Refugees. It will consider the potential for the utilisation of EMDR Therapy as part of overall Trauma Capacity Building. Country case-studies will be used including: Iraq, Cambodia, Myanmar, Lebanon and the Philippines. Research data will also be provided focussing upon Gender-Based Violence – regarding ‘Shame-Based’ Trauma. Ideas will also be considered relating to the teaching and learning of EMDR Therapy, cultural adaptability, political sensitivities, and implications for research and development.