IFS-Informed EMDR by David Polidi

Creative and Collaborative Approaches

Edited by David Polidi · Routledge, December 2025

Two powerful ways of healing trauma, brought together in one book

I can understand where you’re coming from if you work with trauma and sometimes find that a client gets stuck, overwhelmed or shuts down part-way through processing, even when you’ve prepared them carefully. Many of us have sat with that moment and wondered what else we could offer, because the people we work with deserve both safety and real change.

That’s why I’d like to share IFS-Informed EMDR, edited by David Polidi. It brings together EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS), two approaches that many therapists already love, and shows how, used together, they can create something greater than the sum of their parts.

Who this book is for

• Therapists trained in EMDR who are curious about working with “parts”
• IFS practitioners who would like to add EMDR’s structure to their work
• Clinicians working with complex trauma, often from childhood
• Trainers, supervisors and students on therapy training programmes

Five benefits of this book

1. Understand why EMDR and IFS work so well together. The book explains the thinking behind joining the two approaches, so you can see clearly why combining them makes sense, rather than simply borrowing techniques from each.
2. Practical guidance you can use in your next session. Each chapter pairs theory with practical application, so you finish reading with ideas you can bring straight into the therapy room.
3. Gentler work with protective parts. An IFS-informed approach helps you meet the parts of a client that block or resist processing with curiosity and compassion, rather than trying to push past them. This can make trauma work feel safer and more collaborative for clients.
4. Many voices, many approaches. As an edited book with chapters from a range of experienced clinicians, it offers creative and collaborative ways of working, so you can find the approach that fits you and the person in front of you.
5. A trusted resource for training and supervision. It is designed for training programmes as well as practising therapists, which makes it a useful reference to return to, share with colleagues and use in supervision.

About the editor

David Polidi, runs a private practice in Massachusetts and hosts the podcast Empowered Through Compassion. He has trained in IFS-informed EMDR, which has helped to guide its trainings, and has advanced training in IFS.

Is this book right for you?

Our lives are a bit like a story, and our work as therapists is too, because we go from one chapter to another as we learn and grow. If you would like your step to include a calmer, more compassionate way of working with trauma, this book is a lovely place to start. Have a look at the link, and perhaps just read for 5 minutes this week. How does that sound? 🙂