Advanced course · Online
EMDR & Attachment
Attachment is for everyone. Learn the moves of Emotionally Focused Therapy, see your clients’ distress through an attachment lens, and weave slow, short bilateral stimulation into the work, so couples and individuals stuck in old patterns can finally settle and reach for each other.
- Online · liveJoin from anywhere
- EMDRIA creditsAdvanced EMDR training
- EFT + EFITWoven into EMDR
- Small groupsPractice with debriefs
The idea
People are hard-wired for connection.
When attachment longings go unmet, couples form painful patterns. Emotionally Focused Therapy gives you a map: it makes the distressing pattern understandable and the work doable. You learn to see emotional triggers through an attachment lens, slow the cycle down, and de-escalate it, so people can share their triggers and own their behavior.
Some couples have attachment trauma, and their cycles are hard to slow because everyone is terrified. They stay stuck, re-living old wounds every time a need goes unmet. That’s where EMDR comes in. Woven into the moves of EFT, it reduces the immediate re-experiencing of attachment trauma, so couples de-escalate faster and feel the bond more fully.
“The power of EFT and EMDR never ceases to amaze me. This is why I teach.”
Kathleen
Who this is for
EMDR-trained therapists who work with relationships.
This is an EFT-informed workshop for EMDR-trained professionals. You don’t need EFT training to attend; you do need to know your EMDR protocols and be using them.
You’ll be at home here if:
- You’ve completed a full EMDRIA-approved Basic Training and use EMDR resourcing and processing with clients.
- You see couples, or individuals whose troubles are really about the people they love.
- Your clients de-escalate in session and blow up again by Tuesday, and you want to know why.
- You’d rather learn a new move by practicing it than by watching slides about it.
Not sure whether you qualify? Ask Kathleen. She’ll tell you straight.
What you’ll learn
The moves of EFT, with EMDR woven in.
- Emotional and relational distress from an attachment perspective
- The five steps of the EFT Tango (S. Johnson), learned and practiced
- Applying the Tango to a couple’s distressing pattern to de-escalate it
- Container, Orient and Safe State protocols (C. Lidov and K. O’Shea)
- The difference between reactive and core emotional action tendencies
- Choreographing an enactment while weaving in slow, body-oriented bilateral stimulation
Teaching happens through slides, modeling and video. Then you practice: in small groups, taking turns as clinician and client, trying the EFT moves, the EMDR protocols, and the weave between them. Every practice session ends with a debrief, so you feel supported in your work.
By the end, you will
- Have been introduced to EFT and practiced the moves of the Tango
- See unmet attachment needs as the trigger for distress, and be able to reframe distress in attachment terms
- Have learned and practiced the EMDR and the Body and Safe State protocols
- Have practiced weaving slow, short BLS into the moves of EFT
- Earn EMDRIA credits, plus slides, handouts and protocols
How it works
Educational and experiential, in that order.
Short teaching, then practice, then talking about what happened. Live online, so you can join from your own office.
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1
See the pattern
Teaching and modeling
Attachment theory, the EFT Tango, and where EMDR fits. Kathleen models the moves so you can see them before you try them.
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2
Try the moves
Small-group practice
In breakout groups you take turns as therapist and client, practicing EFT interventions, the EMDR protocols, and the weave between them.
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3
Debrief and refine
After every practice
You talk through what worked, what felt clumsy, and what to do differently, with Kathleen and your group. Nobody leaves holding something alone.
Next cohort
Dates & details
EMDR & Attachment
This course runs when a small group is ready. Leave your name and you’ll hear the moment a date is set.
Your trainer
Taught by someone who does this work every week.
Kathleen Fitzgerald is an EMDRIA Approved Trainer and Approved Consultant, and a Certified EFT, EFIT and EFFT Therapist. She has been weaving EMDR into the steps of EFT for years, and has found that it helps couples de-escalate more quickly and experience a secure bond more fully.
Before she was a therapist, she was a teacher. Her courses are organized, clear, and packed with practice, and she runs a room so the quiet people get as much as the loud ones.
Read Kathleen’s storyQuestions
Before you sign up
Do I need EFT training to take this?
No. This is an EFT-informed course for EMDR-trained therapists. You’ll be introduced to the EFT Tango and practice it here. If you already have EFT training, you’ll go deeper on the weave with EMDR.
I mostly see individuals, not couples. Is it still useful?
Yes. Attachment is for everyone. The same lens and the same slow, body-oriented BLS help individual clients whose distress lives in their closest relationships. EFIT, the individual form of EFT, is part of the weave.
Is it really live online?
Yes. Teaching, modeling and small-group practice all happen live over video. You’ll need a private space, a camera, and a stable connection.
Do I have to have finished Basic Training?
Yes. This is an advanced course. Participants must have completed a full EMDR Basic Training, received a Certificate of Completion, and be using EMDR with clients. Knowledge of resourcing and processing protocols is required.
Are there EMDRIA credits?
Yes. The number of credits matches the length of the cohort and is listed with each date.
Can I get consultation on attachment cases afterward?
Yes. Kathleen offers attachment consultation for therapists who want support applying EFT, EFIT and EMDR to their own cases.
Help the people who love each other stop hurting each other.
Seats are limited so the practice groups stay small. Ask Kathleen anything before you decide.
The Lavender Letter
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An occasional note from Kathleen with one EMDR teaching tip, upcoming training dates, and a little news from the garden. Seats are limited, and subscribers hear first.
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