Dear all,

Greetings from beautiful Aotearoa/New Zealand.

As winter settles here and the Northern Hemisphere basks in summer, we anticipate the upcoming excitement of the Olympic Games in France, celebrating unity and excellence.

The Games got me thinking about our recent EMDR Association Australia (EMDRAA) Conference, held in May 2024. Although EMDR therapy and the Olympics might seem unrelated, they both symbolize dedication, progress, and international collaboration, so hear me out.

I remember the very first EMDRAA conference I attended in 2013. It was held in the Quarantine Station in Sydney and there were about 100 people in attendance (this is an estimate, given that the entire Association had about 150 members at the time).

The theme for the Conference was “EMDR and the Treatment of Addiction” and I presented my work on treating addiction in youth in a residential facility to a small audience.

Certainly, the 100 attendees of this conference were way fewer that the 280 participants in the first modern Olympics that took place in Greece, in 1896. And certainly, there were no spectators, like the crowd of 60,000 in Greece. What makes me think we didn’t do badly comparatively, is that the 280 participants represented 12 nations. In Sydney, in 2013, we represented four nations: Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Spain. So, looking from that angle, I think the ratio participants to countries was about even with the first modern Olympic games.

Fast forward 11 years, and, being a Board member, I had the pleasure to close the most successful EMDRAA conference (to date) with more than 700 attendees from about 2500 strong members. The theme was “EMDR Beyond PTSD – A Transdiagnostic & Integrative Psychotherapy”. The hospitable Gold Coast of Australia made us all feel at home and share with ease the passion for our work, alongside uplifting conversations, laughter, and overall great fun.

If I am to make another parallel with the Olympic Games, the slogan “Faster, Higher, Stronger” is about participation and not just winning (though winning is good, of course). So, just like the Games, we need participants in EMDR research. Let the best one win, get published and get presented at the next Conference. Although not everything in research (or everyone in the Olympics) is a winner, unless we participate by testing the application of this transformational therapy in other areas, we will never get to the winning.

Back to the Olympics: there are no participants from a large number of countries at any one Conference. And we definitely don’t have crowds of cheering spectators (or big sponsors). But unlike the Games, we have our Conferences every year and not in one location but in many, so choose your pick, and just go for it.

For the years I have used this transformative therapy, the EMDR conferences worldwide continued to evolve and address the hot topics of the day, being delivered in innovative modalities. Virtual or hybrid, workshop-focused or research-and-practice-oriented, with live-streamed keynotes and online yoga classes in the morning before the start of the day, regardless of the format, each conference propels us forward, expanding our understanding of EMDR therapy.

The baton of science and practice will keep getting passed from one Conference to the next, always forward and upward. I can’t wait to see where it will take us.

Bye for now, and happy watching of the Olympics.

Vania Miteva