In this online course, participants will learn to expand their understanding and conceptualization of early interpersonal trauma and dissociation cases, beyond the traumatic memories of specific events experienced by the child. When traumatic events occur repeatedly within the most significant interpersonal relationships, the maladaptive information is not only limited to specific memories about events (like the yelling, the beating or the sexual abuse), but includes also affective states like shame, entangled with the child’s sense of identity, that can be easily triggered even if the child doesn’t acknowledge feeling it. Avoidance as a coping strategy lies at the heart of both trauma and dissociation, often preventing the therapist from accessing traumatic memories, hampering EMDR efficacy. A special focus of this workshop is the work with adoptive parents and their children, because they present with the most challenging situations in terms of problematic interpersonal relationships. Mismatches in the first meetings between the child and the adoptive parents and parents’ rejection of the child will be specifically addressed through case presentations.