Window of Tolerance: Balancing Activation and Desensitization

EMDR 2.0: A Conversation with Suzy Matthijssen & Ad de Jongh

Recorded live at the EMDRIA conference, Bridger and Jen sit down with the developers of EMDR 2.0, Suzy Matthijssen and Ad de Jongh. Together, they explore how intensive trauma treatment, working memory taxation, and reconsolidation theory are shaping the next generation of EMDR. From four-sessions-a-day protocols to online innovations born during COVID, this conversation brings cutting-edge clinical research into dialogue with the everyday realities of client care.

Summary

In this special conference episode of Notice That, Jen and Bridger interview Suzy Matthijssen and Ad de Jongh, two of the leading voices behind EMDR 2.0. The conversation moves between history, research, and practice, offering clinicians a front-row seat to the evolution of trauma treatment.

Key Themes:

• Origins of Intensive Trauma Treatment
• Suzy and Ad describe how intensive models—four sessions a day across multiple days—emerged from working with treatment-resistant clients and evolved further during the pandemic into effective online formats.
• The Science of EMDR 2.0
• They outline three core pillars:

1. Activation – ensuring traumatic memories are fully brought into working memory.
2. Taxation – increasing working memory load through diverse tasks (eye movements, spelling, music interference, etc.) to reduce vividness and emotionality.
3. Motivation – equipping clients to actively engage in bringing memories forward rather than passively relying on the therapist.

• Reconsolidation vs. Suppression
• The guests emphasize the importance of ensuring memories are altered and reconsolidated—not avoided or suppressed. Special techniques like blind-to-therapist protocols and flash-forward work help clients stay engaged while navigating shame, fear, or anticipatory anxiety.
• Rethinking Stabilization
• EMDR 2.0 challenges the assumption that long stabilization phases are necessary. Instead, therapists are encouraged to begin trauma processing sooner while maintaining attunement and supporting clients within their window of tolerance.
• The Future of EMDR
• Suzy and Ad share their vision of expanding EMDR beyond PTSD guidelines into personality disorders, depression, and anxiety—arguing that wherever intrusive memories or imagery are at the core of symptomatology, EMDR should play a central role.

This episode highlights how EMDR 2.0 builds on the original eight-phase protocol while integrating decades of research, pointing toward a future where trauma treatment is more efficient, intensive, and broadly applied.

If you want to learn more about EMDR 2.0, head over to www.enhancingtraumatreatment.com

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