Before founding Advanced EMDR I coauthored the Amazon best-seller and Gold Award winning book Composure: The Art of Executive Presence
In my 2 decades of experience teaching eye movements, Yoga, EMDR and Somatic Methods I’ve trained with the best of the best in Trauma Therapy and research.
A shortlist includes:-
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Bessel van der Kolk and David Emerson, inaugural class, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga.
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Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing program.
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Attachment Focused EMDR with Laurel Parnell.
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Sensorimotor Psychotherapy with Pat Ogden, Janina Fisher.
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I follow the NICE guidelines in all of my Trauma work and Courses.
I’ve also trained with leading neuroscientists like: Tania Singer Neuroscience of Mindfulness, University of Oxford, UK Tara Swart, MIT, Neuroscience of Leadership And in the field of trauma… Antonio Demasio, Jakk Panksepp, Rachel Yehuda, Peter Fonagy and Stephen Porges.
I was also the Assistant Director of the EMDR Centre London for 5 years, where I trained and supervised hundreds of students. I was doing so many corporate trainings during this time that I honed my Executive Coaching skills at Harvard University to become a certified Executive Coach. I often combined my work in resilience and positive psychology with EMDR to help my executive clients accelerate results. I went on to train in High-Impact Leadership at the University of Cambridge and became an accredited member of the National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists (NCIP). I bring my diverse therapy, coaching and leadership experience to the creation of Advanced EMDR to offer some of the most innovative courses in EMDR, Somatic Psychology, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga, FLOW States and Optimal Performance Coaching, Burnout and the Impostor Syndrome. I am best known for my creation of a bestselling DVD “Yogaboxing”, which combined my many techniques into a fitness workout. As a former technology entrepreneur, I was once CEO of a telecommunications company based in southern California before selling and retiring at 32. I have been seen by an estimated 10 million people on CBS news, ITV, Channel 4, Living TV, and I have appeared on radio on numerous occasions including BBC and LBC. His work has been featured or mentioned in top print media including the Sunday Times, South China Morning Post, Health & Fitness, Shape, Marie Claire, Evening Standard, Daily Mail, and Metro.
When speaking about trauma in courses, I always say “what happens in the body, stays in the body… until we take action.” This is based on one of the most important lessons I learned from Bessel van der Kolk. To quote him “taking effective action” is one of the primary goals of helping people heal trauma.
Learn more about some of these lessons in these short videos.
Don’t forget to sign up for your free ebook by visiting the contact form.
Josh's Videos
Praise for Josh and Advanced EMDR
“ I was dealing with a particularly difficult situation at work where the arguments were seemingly endless. Josh helped me understand what was 'mine' and helped me 'own it'. He helped me separate the issues and identify anything that I was bringing into the situation without necessarily realising it. Mostly, he helped me realise both the need for boundaries, and how to install them with some very specific and practical advice. The changes seemed small at the time, but they had a very strong and successful impact.”
VG
Natasha Jacobs, Venture Partner at Craigie Capital, London
“I was dealing with a particularly difficult situation at work where the arguments were seemingly endless. Josh helped me understand what was 'mine' and helped me 'own it'. He helped me separate the issues and identify anything that I was bringing into the situation without necessarily realising it. Mostly, he helped me realise both the need for boundaries, and how to install them with some very specific and practical advice. The changes seemed small at the time, but they had a very strong and successful impact.”
I feel so lucky to have found Josh as my supervisor who has such much knowledge around EMDR and body psychotherapy. I've grown extensively as a person and a therapist since having supervision sessions over the last two years.
Nela Gold
Patricia Grube, Teen Yoga and Pregnancy Teacher, USA
“In my session I felt something stirring in my ovaries after just a few sets of eye movements. It’s that same feeling I get when I’m ovulating. I think Josh’s system could be great for women who are having difficulty becoming pregnant.”
“In my session I felt something stirring in my ovaries after just a few sets of eye movements. It’s that same feeling I get when I’m ovulating. I think Josh’s system could be great for women who are having difficulty becoming pregnant.”
Roy Yliuay
Michael Opoku-Forfieh, Psychotherapist, UK/Canada
Thank you, Josh, for introducing me to your Advanced EMDR courses. I was able to access your material online which was an advantage for me when I moved to Canada. I feel that I gained just as much from your presentation style and the complex information which you share about the body and mind in relation to trauma as if I was in a live class. Anyone who chooses to access these courses will not only walk away with all their questions answered but many more tools to add to working with clients that have experienced trauma.
“In my session I felt something stirring in my ovaries after just a few sets of eye movements. It’s that same feeling I get when I’m ovulating. I think Josh’s system could be great for women who are having difficulty becoming pregnant.”
Roy Yliuay
VG
“There are certain people that you meet in your life and they change it in the best possible way, Josh is one of them and I'll be forever grateful. If you ever have the opportunity to work with him jump at it, I can promise you it will be the best thing you have ever done. He is the real deal!”
“In my session I felt something stirring in my ovaries after just a few sets of eye movements. It’s that same feeling I get when I’m ovulating. I think Josh’s system could be great for women who are having difficulty becoming pregnant.”
Roy Yliuay
Victoria, Senior Environment Artist, UK
I work in a very male-dominated industry which brings up a lot of challenges when being a woman. Josh taught me how to manage this and strengthen myself for any situation I may face, we also worked through some specifics with EMDR. The lessons I have learnt have been so life-changing for me professionally and in my personal life. Working with Josh has been the best investment I have ever made, I would recommend his expertise to anyone.
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What is Advanced EMDR (AMDR)?Advanced EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a neuroscience-based psychotherapy and coaching system based on traditional EMDR that helps you process and heal distressing memories from the past to create more positive outcomes for the future. Advanced EMDR builds on the comprehensive success of core EMDR protocols for the treatment of trauma, anxiety, panic attacks and dysphoria adding the latest in Somatic Psychology and embodied techniques to accelerate results.
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What is the difference between EMDR and Advanced EMDR?Advanced EMDR encourages dialogue with an emphasis on co-regulation between therapist and client. This entails significant rapport building and establishment of a more “relational” client-centred approach to therapy than traditional EMDR. EMDRIA accredited EMDR trainings have often de-emphasized dialogue between therapist and client in favour of bilateral stimulation and desensitisation. Advanced EMDR highlights a more somatic approach to helping clients first find the words to match their body experiences, something called Affect Labelling. By investing time in labelling as a more internal (interoceptive) approach to dialogue the client instantly becomes somatically aware and more grounded in the present moment. This translates into a higher level of safety and control for clients exposed to Advanced EMDR versus traditional EMDR. Higher safety translates into more trust between therapist and client, and this accelerates the trauma-healing effects of bilateral stimulation.
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Does AMDR include Somatic healing?Yes. Advanced EMDR applies “relational” mindfulness with a compassionate tone between therapist and client, the hallmark of somatic interventions. Research into somatic interventions for trauma healing emphasises a slower language pace and breathing in support of a stronger mindful experience for the client. In traditional EMDR “dual focus” is often used as replacement term for mindfulness. Whilst both describe the attention of the client on their past trauma and simultaneously on the EMDR process unfolding in the present, Advanced EMDR offers a more relational approach to mindfulness to help a client’s nervous system expand its capacity to tolerate distress, something called expanding a Window of Tolerance.
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What other benefits can AMDR provide?Advanced EMDR places a strong emphasis on somatic movements as physical resources accessed by the client. By helping the client connect more with a sense of physicality in the body, this activates important motor areas in the brain that would be less active in a traumatic event. Through Josh’s yoga training combined with tai chi-like movements, like those in his Trauma-Sensitive Yoga with EMDR (TSY-EMDR) programs, Advanced EMDR encourages slower hand and arm movements, and occasional spinal stretching. These movements are synchronized with breathing to restore active, defensive responses to the client’s nervous system. This process quickly prepares the client to “take effective action” as a restored response to their traumatic experiences. This accelerates the trauma-healing process and offers more positive treatment outcomes.
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How does AMDR help with Trauma?By acknowledging that trauma not only impacts the mind but also the body, connecting with a client in a compassionate, relational way through slower paced words or even slower, mindful body movements can allow a traumatised person to develop a deeper sense of safety and control with fewer therapist interventions required. With the advent of new psychological theories like Psychological Safety, Social Baseline Theory and Self-Determination Theory Advanced EMDR acknowledges that safety is at the core of lowering stress and anxiety in the mind and body, with or without bilateral stimulation. With “relational” mindfulness and compassion at the foundation of Advanced EMDR practices, consistently positive outcomes can occur in cases of more complex traumas, shame and dissociation (areas that could be considered an “Achilles heel” for traditional EMDR).