Overview

Depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. While a substantial body of evidence supports existing treatments, around 40% of individuals fail to respond to current evidence-based interventions. Encouragingly, EMDR therapy has demonstrated growing support for its effectiveness in treating depression—offering renewed hope to both clinicians and clients.

This 90-minute presentation explores how EMDR can be conceptualised and applied as a transdiagnostic treatment for depression. Drawing on current research and clinical case examples, we will examine how to optimise the use of EMDR with this often complex and difficult-to-treat population. The session will highlight common challenges and provide practical strategies to enhance client engagement and treatment outcomes.

Whether working with acute depressive episodes or treatment-resistant presentations, this presentation will support clinicians in using EMDR therapy more confidently and effectively in their work with clients experiencing depression.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this event, participants should be able to:

• Describe the theoretical rationale for using EMDR therapy to treat depression, including its transdiagnostic application beyond PTSD.
• Conceptualise cases collaboratively to guide efficient and effective use of the standard EMDR protocol in clients with depressive symptoms.
• Identify common trauma-related and developmental contributors to depression that may be targeted within EMDR case conceptualisation.
• Integrate EMDR into broader treatment plans for depression, including considerations for combining EMDR with other therapeutic approaches

Presenter(s)

Dr. Sarah Dominguez

About the presenter(s)

Sarah is a Clinical Psychologist and the Director of The Wattle Centre, a psychology centre based in NSW, Australia, where she sees clients in private practice. Here, she works with clients with a range of presentations and histories, including sexual assault, neglect, birth trauma, workplace trauma and difficulties resulting from combat. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has been an invited presenter at several international conferences, including as the keynote speaker at the 2025 EMDR Europe in Prague. Recently, Sarah has co-authored the chapter, "EMDR and Depression" for the highly anticipated release, "The Oxford Handbook of EMDR Therapy" (2025). Sarah is an accredited consultant and trainer with the EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA). She serves on the EMDRAA board and is a member of the EMDRAA Accreditation and Standards Committee, and the EMDRAA Scientific Committee, as well as several international committees. She delivers training in trauma-focused interventions, including EMDR therapy and image rescripting, to therapists across Australia. In addition, she offers several on-demand courses, such as EMDR Refresher and Using EMDR and Schema Therapy.

Notes

Target Audience

Clinicians who work with depression (with or without training in EMDR).

Duration of Access

This event will be recorded. The recording will be emailed to all registered within 2 weeks post event and available for viewing up to 90 days.

CPD

It is up to attendees to assess and determine how learning from this event aligns with the requirements of their learning plan. The providers accordingly do not make any representation that the event counts towards attendees’ CPD learning requirements. If an attendee determines themselves that the learning they complete aligns to their learning plan, then they can decide to count those hours towards their CPD requirements for the registration cycle.

The information in this presentation has been prepared in good faith and for educational purposes only. Therefore, the information is general in nature and should not be relied upon in the treatment of any condition and you should seek your own independent professional and/or legal advice concerning any specific issue. The APS accepts no responsibility for any errors, omissions or decisions relating to the information. The content should not be reproduced without permission or unless permitted by law.

If you are experiencing registration difficulties please contact APS Events Support.