Attachment-informed EMDR with Couples: From Present Trigger to Formative Root
When adult partners are in conflict, their nervous systems are in constant conversation. Each partner is now the other's primary adult attachment figure, and each reads the other through what they learned to expect as children. In a split second, a tone of voice, a look, or a single word can fire the survival response.
In this live 3.5-hour workshop, Mark Brayne introduces his attachment-informed EMDR (ai-EMDR) approach to working with couples. Participants will learn how to help each partner identify the precise moment in a recurring conflict that activates their nervous system and use that moment as a bridge back to its formative root.
One partner is the client while the other provides tapping and witnesses. Mark will explore this framework step by step, with coaching and experimentation, showing how best-practice EMDR can be brought directly into couples work while keeping the relationship itself as the client.
This page covers the optional NBCC certificate only.
Learning objectives, presenter & agenda
- Explain how early attachment experiences contribute to recurring conflicts between adult partners.
- Identify specific relational triggers and use them to access formative memories.
- Apply the ai-EMDR bridge to connect present reactions with earlier attachment experiences.
- Describe the process of conducting EMDR with one partner while the other witnesses and provides tapping.
- Recognize when conjoint EMDR is appropriate and when individual treatment or referral is necessary.
- Use intergenerational interweaves to help partners understand the origins of their reactions.
- Attend live, in full
- Complete the program evaluation
- No partial credit; recordings don't qualify
