In 2014 I am attending an EMDR Europe Conference in Edinburgh. It is the first time I present something in English to a larger audience. I am more nervous than usual. As I start to deliver the presentation, my mouth goes dry, I have difficulties in attempting to manage the bottle of water beside the pulpit and to present the slides at the same time. The spotlights illuminating the stage are particularly bright. I feel like I am suffering from emotional blindness and see no one in front of me. I can hardly distinguish the letters in the printed text. The defensive action systems are in full swing. What a great example of social anxiety at play!
As I leave the stage and begin to adjust my vision back to a darker, cozier environment, this is when Konstantina comes up to me, presents herself and says something encouraging, showing her interest in the topic. This is how we first become acquainted. It seems the subjective drama on the stage was fairly well camouflaged. We did not have to mention this piteous episode any further. So this is a light version of the kind of moment any of us may go through. It offers a glimpse of the dread it must be to feel these feelings and physical sensations every time there is the risk of the spotlight being pointed at us. We flashforward to a few years later and Konstantina invites me to write a foreword on this great book on EMDR and social anxiety she is about to finish writing. Nothing would seem to fit better the experience of the first time we met! As I receive the manuscript, it does not take long to see that Konstantina’s text is a born classic on the theme. It is as if she holds the hand of the readers and offers us a gentle tour related to the topic of social anxiety. We as therapists will find that we can read the text according to the clinical steps we intuitively take in our everyday practice. Beginning the rapport as we first get to know the client, the symptoms usually arrive before the client is capable of setting up a therapeutic bond with us. The client brings the complaints
right away, especially when there is anxiety involved. This initial contact activates our theoretical models. Konstantina contextualizes symptomatology, relevant literature and research with grace and ease. The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model that informs EMDR Therapy is presented in a very didactic way. As we proceed with the imaginary session, we may also seek confirmatory information through the use of psychological testing that leads us to the corroboration of the diagnosis. The book offers us examples of the testing and diagnostic options. The overall conceptualization of the case leads naturally to the therapeutic intervention. This is exactly the sequence of how the text unfolds. Consistent with the theory, Konstantina sprinkles us with clarifying vignettes that enlighten the theoretical concepts, and bring a comprehensive integration of the theory and phases of EMDR Therapy.
Konstantina then widens the initial scope of the book, by describing historical and local characteristics of EMDR Therapy in Germany in a three-pronged fashion. She begins by how things came to be, their current status in the German speaking world, and some future options. On diverse occasions, the creator of EMDR Therapy, Dr. Francine Shapiro, exhorts us to carry out research, and to pursue a systematic study of EMDR applied to different disorders. This book most certainly is an answer Dr. Shapiro’s plight, presented in an accessible way that will help EMDR therapists better understand and treat the vicissitudes of clients who suffer from social anxiety.