Develop case conceptualization skills and treatment plans based on the Adaptive Information Processing model (AIP), attachment theory, affective neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology, play therapy theory, and the polyvagal theory.

Develop advanced skills in treatment plan development and will have advanced supervised practice in global and phase-specific case conceptualization.

Develop basic and advanced skills in preparing children for EMDR trauma processing. This includes resources for stabilization and affect regulation and strategies to identify targets using playful and developmentally appropriate float back and mapping strategies.

Have a clear understanding of the role of co-regulation and how to incorporate it throughout the eight phases of treatment.

Utilize advanced preparation strategies appropriate for children and the organizing principles of the initial phases of treatment. This training will cover the skill-building model and the use of EMDR games with children to facilitate the use of the eight phases of EMDR therapy. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of making children acquainted with the different components of EMDR therapy prior to moving into the assessment and desensitization phases. Play therapy strategies will be demonstrated to help children develop cognitive, emotional, and somatic literacy so they can access the cognitive, affective, and somatosensory aspects of the trauma memories.

Utilize concrete and playful strategies to engage children during the assessment phase. In addition, clinicians will learn advanced strategies to set up processing sessions to optimize the child’s integrative capacities. These strategies are beneficial when working with children with sensitized sympathetic nervous systems and with sensitized dorsal vagal systems.

Utilize playful interweaves that are suitable for children.

Utilize the Interweave System’s Model (Gomez) using playful and child-friendly approaches to blocked processing.

Utilize moment-to-moment decision-making markers to co-create safety and establish the child’s readiness for trauma processing.

This intensive training will cover play therapy strategies that can be used during the installation, body scan, and reevaluation phases of EMDR therapy. In addition, how to help children envision a future that is in alignment with their most authentic selves and the deepest and truest longings of their hearts through the use of the future template protocol will be addressed.

Clinicians can practice in small groups and receive individualized feedback from expert companions.