What is Attachment Focused EMDR Therapy? AF-EMDR in Greenville, SC

Attachment Focused EMDR Therapy

Laurel Parnell describes Attachment-Focused EMDR in her book Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma (2013) as a modified EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) protocol for working with clients with early attachment trauma including early childhood abuse and neglect.

AF-EMDR: Attachment Theory and Attachment Styles

Attachment Focused Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (AF-EMDR) acknowledges attachment theory and attachment styles including secure attachment, avoidant/dismissing attachment, ambivalent and preoccupied attachment, and disorganized and unresolved trauma or loss, however warns against seeing these as concrete unchanging labels as they may look different with each individual (example: having relational difficulties in some types of relationships and not others) and each of us can move toward secure attachment over time with the right help and healthy relational counterparts.

The Process of AF-EMDR

Within the process of Attachment Focused EMDR, history taking and preparation for the trauma work are highly important (as they are with the standard EMDR protocol). The phases of the AF-EMDR process themselves are set up slightly differently with heavy focus on intensive positive resourcing for repair. The process prioritizes the needs of the individual client and helps facilitate a sense of safety in the here and now, prior to reprocessing past traumas. The resourcing itself helps to grow new neural pathways, which brain science suggests we can continue to do throughout our lives (Parnell, 2013).

AF-EMDR Therapy Versus Standard EMDR Protocol

If you have had negative experiences with EMDR therapy in the past, it may be that with a therapist with the best of intentions, the reprocessing work may have been started too early prior to a sense of safety being established between therapist and client. More stabilization in the relationship and resourcing may have been needed at that time. Research actually suggests there may be benefits from resourcing alone if you are not wanting to go into the trauma reprocessing at all during your time in the therapy. AF-EMDR may also be able to address important developmental repair without the need to identify exact memories from the past.

How to Choose a Therapist for Attachment Focused Therapy and

AF-EMDR

AF-EMDR therapy emphasizes the importance of the influence of the therapeutic relationship between the client and the therapist, proposing that the relationship itself provides healing for the client throughout the time spent working together. Focus is placed on you, the client, experiencing an increased sense of safety and connection between self and therapist. Genuine empathy from the therapist is incredibly important. In engaging in any type of attachment focused therapy, it is crucial to find a therapist who is fully present throughout each of your sessions, demonstrates a genuine sense of connection and intuition as they respond to you, and who securely helps guide you through the process in a way that feels safe for you.

Parnell, L. (2013). Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

For more information on scheduling attachment therapy and attachment focused EMDR therapy in Greenville, South Carolina, please contact me below. I look forward to speaking with you soon!