Enhancing Trust and Attunement

Enhancing Trust and Attunement-Focused EMDR with Children and Adolescents

Overview

This presentation will focus on the rationale for building trust and attunement with children throughout the eight phases of the EMDR model. Attachment theory and evidence from neuroscience will demonstrate the relevance to the AIP model. The importance of trust and attunement will be illustrated through two case studies; with a five-year-old and an eight-year-old child, both of whom had experienced pre-verbal trauma and were treated with EMDR, with a focus on enhancing trust and attunement within this model. These case studies consider and demonstrate how the child can be supported to create positive neural networks and process early trauma, while remaining within the window of tolerance. The author will also share her experience of translating her clinical work into a published case study in this area.

Aims and Learning Objectives: Please click here

Dr Helen Rathore  

Clinical Psychologist; Accredited EMDR Practitioner; Clinical Neuropsychotherapist; Certified Brainspotting therapist; TCTSY Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator

Helen works in partnership with people across the life span, including children and adolescents, from her base in Nelson, New Zealand. Her therapy training began with Humanistic Counselling in 1993, before Helen later completed her Clinical Psychology training. Helen worked for several years within the NHS in the UK, prior to relocating to New Zealand, where she worked in several different mental health settings. Helen has a special interest in understanding and working with clients with complex trauma and dissociative presentations across the life span, including with children, adolescents and adults and those with attachment traumas. She integrates her understanding around attachment, attunement, resourcing, somatic and neuro-physical work, and the neuroscience of therapy into her work and practices and teaches mindfulness to her clients. Helen has several published papers, in addition to presenting papers at conference. She has published her case study, ‘Trust and Attunement-Focused EMDR With a Child’, in the EMDR Practice and Research journal. Rathore, H. E. (2018). Trust and Attunement-focused EMDR with a child. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 12(4), 255–268.