Since 1997 Dana Elken Terrell, LCSW, EAC brought her decades of practice of Bowen Family Systems Theory into her practice of EMDR therapy. So much research has demonstrated the value of EMDR in healing from bad experiences, that the World Health Organization only recommends 2 treatments for the worst experiences causing PTSD: EMDR is one of those treatments. 

 

Dana called her approach "integrative Bowen and EMDR" or iBE therapy. By 2013 she reported her single case study research of iBE at the EMDR International Conference in Denver, Colorado.  She demonstrated that her client’s* emotional maturity could increase 10.7 points according to the Differentiation of Self Scale.  Murray Bowen only believed very modest improvements (he used the word “microscopic”) were possible in one lifetime.  Even so,  he said even small progress would make a major difference in one’s life course. Dana thinks Bowen would have been stunned to see such a significant result in one year.

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She has done many EMDR group workshops and research projects. In 2020 she researched parents of special needs children, giving help with trauma related to their children. Another pilot study focused on the problem of conflict in relationships. Her next study in October 2022 will focus on helping healthcare workers challenged by conflict at work.

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Now, she is semi-retired with a part-time private practice in San Diego, California. This is giving her time for research and training therapists. She travels around the country hosting her iBE Therapy workshops. And she has just published her first book When I Do Relationship So Right How Do They Go So Wrong: Using Emotional Maturity to Transform Your Mind, Your Relationships, and the Generations to Come. Her second book on how to improve all kinds of relationships, is in process.

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Get your copy of Dana Elken Terrell's book here.