Since 1995, volunteer international EMDR Trainers and organisations have been giving their time and expertise to conduct trainings in Africa. These have been held in Uganda, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Madagascar. They have been sponsored by organisations including EMDR Europe, Trauma Aid Europe, Trauma Aid France, Trauma Aid Germany, Trauma Aid Netherlands, and Trauma Recovery – EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs (U.S.).
We are forever grateful to the organisations and EMDR professionals from around the world for supporting us throughout the years. It became clear that with only two of our own qualified trainers on the continent, Dr Gisela Roth (Kenya) and Reyhana Seedat (South Africa), we needed to increase our capacity and develop our resources in Africa. A meeting was held in Uganda in 2019 with five African countries represented where the commitment to developing a Regional Association in Africa was made.
In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, representatives of various National EMDR Associations in Africa started meeting regularly to help establish a Regional EMDR Africa Association. Within one year, a steering committee drawn from 11 countries worked to establish a constitution, a non-profit company based in South Africa, a logo, and a bank account. In 2021, at the online EMDR Europe Conference, EMDR Africa was formally launched!
EMDR Africa has big dreams: more African Supervisors and Consultants, more African Trainers, more research, continued international collaborations, an EMDR Africa journal, and one day, we hope to host an EMDR Africa Conference.
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