Andrew M. Leeds, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychology

Andrew M. Leeds, Ph.D. is a California licensed Psychologist and Marriage and Family Therapist with 34 years of private practice psychotherapy experience. He maintains a full-time practice in Santa Rosa, California (60 miles north of San Francisco) where he specializes in the assessment and treatment of acute and chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression and dissociative disorders, and provides relationship counseling. Dr. Leeds is the Director of Training for the Sonoma Psychotherapy Training Institute which provides basic training in EMDR to mental health professionals. He also provides consultation for clinicians regarding the application of EMDR.

Dr. Leeds is an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and Instructor in EMDR. He has conducted EMDR training for more than 13,000 clinicians at some 135 training programs in the United States, Canada, France, England and Japan. Dr. Leeds received initial training in EMDR in 1991.

Dr. Leeds is the author of A Guide to the Standard EMDR Protocols for Clinicians, Supervisors, and Consultants (2009, Springer Publishing Company: New York). He is the author of "Lifting the burden of shame: Using EMDR Resource Installation to resolve a therapeutic impasse" in Extending EMDR, A case book of innovative applications, edited by Philip Manfield, Ph.D. (1998) W. W. Norton. He is first author with Francine Shapiro, Ph.D. of "EMDR and Resource Installation: Principles and procedures for enhancing current functioning and resolving traumatic experiences. In J. Carlson & L. Sperry (Eds.), (2000) Brief Therapy Strategies with Individuals and Couples, Tucker, Zeig, Theisen, Inc. Publishers. Dr. Leeds is co-author with Deborah L. Korn, Psy.D. of Preliminary Evidence of Efficacy for EMDR Resource Development and Installation in the Stabilization Phase of Treatment of Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (2002) in The Journal of Clinical Psychology. Since September 2003 he has contributed a regular, quarterly column to the EMDRIA Newsletter summarizing the latest research literature on EMDR.

For three years he served as chair of the Professional Support Committee for the EMDR Institute where he helped establish training standards for the EMDR Institute facilitator staff and conducted staff development training sessions. In 1996, he started and through 2000 served as moderator of the EMDR Institute electronic discussion list on the Internet. In 2002, Dr. Leeds was elected to a three-year term (2003-2005) on the Board of Directors of the EMDR International Association where he served on the Educational and Professional Programs Development task group. He now serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of EMDR Practice and Research the peer-reviewed professional journal of the EMDR International Association published by Springer Publishing Company.

Dr. Leeds has contributed to the evolution of EMDR theory and method by articulating, researching, publishing and teaching an EMDR procedure known as Resource Development and Installation (RDI). RDI is intended to strengthen a person's sense of well-being and coping behaviors. Dr. Shapiro included a summary of the RDI procedure in the second edition (2001) of her standard text on EMDR. The widespread use of RDI has helped extend the range of patients who can be helped with EMDR treatment. From 1999 through 2001 over 2,500 EMDR trained clincians attended Dr. Leeds's two-day advanced specialty workshops co-sponsored by the EMDR Institute "Strengthening the Self" in cities through the North America. This workshop provided a model for adapting EMDR to the treatment of Complex PTSD based on principles from attachment theory, affect theory and the neurobiology of the development of emotional self-regulation. This workshop is now available as a home study audio course.

Dr. Leeds has presented papers on EMDR for international, national and regional professional associations including the American Psychiatric Association, the California Psychological Association (CPA), the American Psychological Association (APA), the Society for Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the World Congress of Behavioral and Cogntitve Therapies (WCBCT). Dr. Leeds was an invited presenter at four of the first five annual EMDR International Conferences. He is an associate member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a clinical member of the California Psychlogical Assocation, CAMFT, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, and International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

In 1999, Dr. Leeds was awarded both the EMDR Institute's Ronald A. Martinez Memorial Award and an EMDR International Association award for his service and contributions to the evolution of EMDR.