Using eye movement desensitization and reprocessing to treat complex PTSD in a biracial client

A biracial client's recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the use of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is discussed to illustrate the interaction between ethnicity and phenotype as well as diagnosis and treatment considerations. This case explores a woman's experience of discrimination in and out of her home and her vulnerability to complex PTSD, and it documents the importance of the therapy focusing on experiences of discrimination and prejudice as well as abuse. It shows how the client structures her environment in a personally creative fashion to include representative features of various aspects of her identity, by her choice of where and who she teaches as well as how and with whom she spends her free time.