Parents in the Process of Playful EMDR with Children

Therapists struggle to include caretakers in all the phases of EMDR with children including engaging them to agree to allow the processing of memories. Therapists may also have ambivalence if the caretakers are the cause of the attachment trauma, failed to adequately protect the child, and the parental attachment pattern are negatively impacting the child. Despite the complexity, the literature is clear that caregivers (by which we mean biological, foster and adoptive parents, grandparents, etc.) must be involved in EMDR therapy as a resource and for fullest benefit of trauma processing with EMDR. The workshop will provide playful interventions for children and involving caregivers in the preparation phase as co-regulators of their children and being present in the room and key in supporting the child’s reprocessing using the storytelling approach. Therapists will assess in between session processing to determine change in the child with the Closure and Re-Evaluation checklist.