EMDR was revitalized in Bangladesh under the leadership of Dr Shamim F Karim in 2015 with the good office of HAP/Trauma Aid Switzerland. Hanna Egli-Bernd, (Dipl.Psych.) set the foundation by providing intensive training on psychotraumatology to ensure sustainability. 52 mental health professionals successfully received Basic EMDR training from Dr Sushma and her team from EMDR Asia. In March, 2019 EMDR-Bangladesh Association was formally established, Dr Shamim F Karim being the president. Currently there are 27 active members and subsequently HAP-Bangladesh was formed under the leadership of Shaheen Islam. Members of EMDR-BD responded to many humanitarian call of disaster like massive fire incident, road accident and suicide incident of school children, Rohinga influx and finally the pandemic COVID 19. EMDR-BD has successfully launched foundation training on “Psychotraumatology” for trauma informed care.
EMDR-Bangladesh stepped into international community by participating and presenting papers in EMDR Europe congress in 2019, 2021 and EMDR Asia conferences in 2017, 2020. EMDR Bangladesh, a small community with a big heart, became the bearer of Francine Shapiro’s dream by making a token contribution to “Francine Shapiro Memorial Fund”. The association focuses on strengthening the local body and resources to expedite and sustain the benefit that would further guarantee the forward movement of EMDR practice in Bangladesh.
Reported by Shaheen Islam, Vice President, EMDR-Bangladesh Association.
24/6/2021
