10 Sep Integrating EMDR into Couples Work: A Practical Approach to Resourcing, Attachment and Connection
This on-demand online course is designed for practitioners seeking to merge the transformative power of EMDR with emotionally focused and attachment-focused work, and even Imago-based couples therapy.
What You’ll Learn:
- Thorough Assessment: Get across crucial phase one considerations, including assessing emotional capacity, self-awareness, and screening for red flags like domestic violence, narcissism, or active betrayal. Learn to gauge partners’ intentions for resolution and their commitment to the relationship, looking for a desire to rectify and resolve conflict.
- Building Foundational Safety: Master the art of facilitating attunement, witnessing, and holding space, recognising these as essential acts of love and healing. Implement co-regulation techniques through physical closeness, eye contact, and mirrored breathing, crucial for establishing a felt sense of security and regulating the nervous system.
- Innovative Resourcing Skills: Discover practical exercises like “Calm Place” and “Container” tailored for couples to manage conflict and create temporary holding zones for difficult emotions. Develop a “Couples Secure Positive Memory” to enhance shared happy moments and foster connection.
- Transforming Communication: Introduce psychoeducation on the importance of non-reactive listening and validation, moving away from argumentative patterns towards reflective listening and a desire for restoration. Utilise “Nine Core Emotions” as a daily check-in to expand emotional literacy and foster understanding without intense dialogue.
- Targeted Desensitisation and Reprocessing: Learn to apply the EMDR three-prong approach (past, present, future) to address relationship issues and individual histories. Explore techniques like restricted processing to de-escalate high-conflict situations quickly. Discover how witnessing individual EMDR sessions or co-desensitisation can bring profound compassion and insight into a partner’s trauma and attachment wounds.
- Fostering Connection and Intimacy: Employ curiosity to reduce reactivity and judgement, paving the way for compassion and emotional intimacy. Guide couples to envision a positive future orientation for their relationship, shifting from old “trauma tapes” to a new narrative of growth and gratitude.
- Integrating Parts Work: Understand how to help partners “meet each other’s exiles” (wounded child parts) and foster unity, or contract with protective parts to enhance safety and softening within the relationship.
This course emphasises a mindful, cautious approach to integrating EMDR, ensuring safety and building a strong foundation of connection before moving into deeper processing. Equip yourself with the practical skills and nuanced understanding to guide couples toward de-escalating tension, recreating intimacy, and safeguarding their relationship for lasting health and resilience.
Megan Salar, MSW, ACADC, is an EMDR clinician, trainer, and author. She earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Northwest Nazarene University in 2011. Megan has extensive training in EMDR and other trauma-focused interventions, with special expertise in trauma, abuse, attachment, and substance abuse.
She has trained thousands of clinicians across the United States and internationally, equipping them with advanced skills in EMDR, trauma, and addiction treatment, as well as evidence-based best practices. Megan is the author of EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD: Skills to Manage Triggers, Move Beyond Traumatic Memories, and Take Back Your Life, published by New Harbinger Publications in May 2023.
Previously, Megan owned and operated an intensive outpatient treatment centre, which was recognised as Best in Practice in 2019. She now runs her own counselling, consulting, and training business, driven by her passion for transforming mental health and trauma treatment. Megan’s authentic, hands-on approach is reshaping the field and making a lasting impact.
This online workshop will give you instant access to the course video content, accessible via streaming on our website, as well as downloadable slide deck. You can view the course content in your own time, there is no time limit on access. The duration of this online course is 1.5 learning hours.
Please click the green ‘Mark Complete’ button on each module as you progress.
A certificate of completion will be generated upon finishing the course and completing a short assessment quiz. If the certificate is not showing, please confirm you have marked all sections as ‘Complete’. Please consult your professional organisation/association to confirm whether you are able to claim any CPD points/hours for this online workshop.
