Complex Trauma: EMDR Pacing and Attachment as Organizing Lens

Pacing and timing are central to effective EMDR therapy, particularly when working with clients experiencing developmental or complex trauma. This article examines how EMDR therapy can be paced more effectively when case conceptualization, target selection, activation, and session structure are viewed and managed through an attachment-informed lens. While maintaining fidelity to the standard eight-phase protocol, the article examines how identifying attachment-organized material can help clinicians navigate overwhelm, shutdown, compliance, or stalled processing to better support adaptive information processing.

Learn more in this article from the Spring 2026 issue EMDR and Complex Trauma of Go With That Magazine® by Mark Brayne, MA.

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