EMDR Advanced Training
Attachment Focused EMDR: Healing the Invisible Wounds from Childhood
Trainer:Â Cassidy DuHadway, LCSW
On-Demand: Available with lifetime access for asynchronous learning. This course was recorded on April 16th, 2026.
Emotional neglect and attachment injury are some of the hardest presentations to treat with EMDR, partly because they rarely look like trauma on the surface. Clients who carry these wounds often struggle with a persistent sense of unworthiness, chronic disruptions to self-esteem, and longstanding difficulties in relationships. They may tell you their childhood was fine. But the patterns in the room tell a different story.
If you've ever wondered:
- "I don't know how to use EMDR to heal attachment trauma"
- "I don't know how to create targets for emotional neglect," or
- "Is EMDR even the right modality for this?"
This training is for you. Attachment Focused EMDR: Healing the Invisible Wounds from Childhood gives you clear, attachment-informed case conceptualization, target selection, and protocol adaptations grounded in the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. You'll learn how to treat emotional neglect and attachment injury with EMDR in a way that is structured, ethical, and clinically defensible, without needing discrete trauma memories to do deep, effective work.Â
Practical Interventions You Will Learn
1. Attachmentâinformed EMDR case conceptualization using the AIP model, so you can map symptoms to unmet developmental needs and relational trauma rather than searching for a single âbig Tâ event.
2. Assessment strategies for emotional neglect and attachment injury when clients minimize, intellectualize, or canât recall specific trauma memories.
3. Target selection and sequencing approaches for attachmentâbased and neglectâfocused EMDR, including using themes, patterns, and emotional states as targets when memories are vague or neutral.
4. Use of developmental and relational targets to access implicit memory networks and the âfelt senseâ of absence, silence, and emotional loneliness.
5. Protocol adaptations for low affect and blocked processing, including pacing and stimulation shifts, working with felt sense, and using interweaves that access meaning rather than detailed memory.
6. Resourcing strategies that support attachment needs and coâregulation without bypassing unresolved material or reinforcing emotional suppression.Â
7. Cognitive and relational interweaves that address core belief themes tied to emotional neglect (earned worth, shame and invisibility, fear of dependency, emotional selfâabandonment) and support attachment repair.
8. Strategies for managing blocked processing and limited affect in attachmentâfocused EMDR so you can stay within the model instead of abandoning it when things get hard.
What You'll Learn
By the end of this training, you will be able to:
- Describe how childhood emotional neglect and attachment injury impact neurodevelopment, memory systems, and trauma symptom presentation in the absence of discrete Criterion A events.
- Apply the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model to attachmentâinformed EMDR case conceptualization for clients with histories of emotional neglect and relational trauma.
- Demonstrate EMDR target selection and sequencing strategies using developmental, relational, and attachmentâbased targets within the AIP framework.
- Implement EMDR protocol adaptations for clients presenting with low affect, blocked processing, dissociation, or limited access to explicit memory.
- Utilize EMDR cognitive interweaves to address core belief themes associated with emotional neglect, including earned worth, shame, emotional deprivation, and fear of dependency.
- Evaluate EMDRâs role among evidenceâbased trauma treatments, and explain how individualized case conceptualization influences treatment selection and sequencing for complex trauma presentations.
Throughout the day, Cassidy will walk you through case examples that illustrate common stuck points and breakthroughs, showing you how to explain emotional neglect and EMDR to clients in language that supports buyâin and reduces shame.
Who Is This Training For
This course is designed for:
- EMDR clinicians who work primarily with adult clients in private practice or outpatient settings.
- Therapists treating complex trauma, attachment injury, emotional neglect, and relational trauma, who want a clearer, more structured way to use EMDR with these presentations.
- Intermediate to advanced EMDR clinicians who are already using EMDR and are ready to move beyond standard âsingleâeventâ applications.
- Clinicians who feel stuck with clients who present with low affect, vague or ânothing thereâ memories, blocked processing, dissociation, or chronic shame and selfâdoubt.
If youâve ever felt underâtrained for attachmentâfocused EMDR, questioned your case conceptualization, or wished for a more concrete clinical map for emotional neglect, this training will give you the structure and confidence youâve been missing.
About Your Trainer, Cassidy DuHadway, LCSW
Cassidy DuHadway, LCSW, is a trauma therapist, EMDRIA Approved Consultant, and EMDR Trainer specializing in complex trauma, dissociation, and emotional neglect. With nearly two decades of experience, Cassidy helps clients and clinicians recognize the profound impact of unseen wounds, especially emotional neglect and the âgood childhoodâ narrative. She trains EMDR therapists to navigate attachment wounds and dissociation, equipping them with practical tools for deeper processing. As the CEO of Purple Sky Counseling, Cassidy is dedicated to empowering clinicians and clients alike in their trauma healing journeys.
