Integrating EMDR into Couples Work: A Practical Approach to Resourcing, Attachment and Connection
This on-demand online course is designed for practitioners seeking to merge the transformative power of EMDR with emotionally focused and attachment-focused work, and even Imago-based couples therapy.
What You’ll Learn:
- Thorough Assessment: Get across crucial phase one considerations, including assessing emotional capacity, self-awareness, and screening for red flags like domestic violence, narcissism, or active betrayal. Learn to gauge partners’ intentions for resolution and their commitment to the relationship, looking for a desire to rectify and resolve conflict.
- Building Foundational Safety: Master the art of facilitating attunement, witnessing, and holding space, recognising these as essential acts of love and healing. Implement co-regulation techniques through physical closeness, eye contact, and mirrored breathing, crucial for establishing a felt sense of security and regulating the nervous system.
- Innovative Resourcing Skills: Discover practical exercises like “Calm Place” and “Container” tailored for couples to manage conflict and create temporary holding zones for difficult emotions. Develop a “Couples Secure Positive Memory” to enhance shared happy moments and foster connection.
- Transforming Communication: Introduce psychoeducation on the importance of non-reactive listening and validation, moving away from argumentative patterns towards reflective listening and a desire for restoration. Utilise “Nine Core Emotions” as a daily check-in to expand emotional literacy and foster understanding without intense dialogue.
- Targeted Desensitisation and Reprocessing: Learn to apply the EMDR three-prong approach (past, present, future) to address relationship issues and individual histories. Explore techniques like restricted processing to de-escalate high-conflict situations quickly. Discover how witnessing individual EMDR sessions or co-desensitisation can bring profound compassion and insight into a partner’s trauma and attachment wounds.
- Fostering Connection and Intimacy: Employ curiosity to reduce reactivity and judgement, paving the way for compassion and emotional intimacy. Guide couples to envision a positive future orientation for their relationship, shifting from old “trauma tapes” to a new narrative of growth and gratitude.
- Integrating Parts Work: Understand how to help partners “meet each other’s exiles” (wounded child parts) and foster unity, or contract with protective parts to enhance safety and softening within the relationship.
This course emphasises a mindful, cautious approach to integrating EMDR, ensuring safety and building a strong foundation of connection before moving into deeper processing. Equip yourself with the practical skills and nuanced understanding to guide couples toward de-escalating tension, recreating intimacy, and safeguarding their relationship for lasting health and resilience.
CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Pay once for lifetime access.
Course Duration: 1.5 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Lifetime Access: Your access to the course does not expire, so you can revisit key concepts anytime you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Individuals struggling with complex trauma and addiction - and the practitioners trying to help them - can find that traditional approaches sometimes fall short when addressing the deep, intertwined wounds that drive both conditions. Megan Salar has built her career around this challenging intersection, becoming an internationally recognised expert who combines evidence-based EMDR therapy with raw authenticity to create breakthrough healing experiences for both clients and the clinicians who serve them.
As an EMDR Trainer, Practitioner and published author of EMDR for Dummies (2023) and The EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD (2023), and The EMDR Flip Chart (2023), Salar brings unique expertise that bridges clinical excellence with lived experience. Her previous ownership of an award-winning intensive outpatient treatment center (Best in Practice, 2019) demonstrates her ability to create effective treatment programs, while her current role as Owner/Founder of The Mental Survivalist reflects her commitment to revolutionising how we approach trauma and addiction recovery. Her training of thousands of clinicians across the United States and internationally positions her as a leading voice in trauma-informed care.
Salar's expertise spans EMDR therapy, trauma treatment, addiction counseling, PTSD treatment, anxiety disorders, clinical supervision, and what she calls "authentic healing." Her approach recognises that lasting recovery requires more than technique - it demands courage to face one's authentic self and work through the "messiness" of trauma and addiction simultaneously. She specialises in treatment-resistant cases, dual diagnosis presentations, and training clinicians who want to move beyond more surface-level interventions to create genuine transformation.
What sets her training apart is authentic vulnerability combined with clinical expertise. Salar doesn't just teach EMDR protocols - she shows practitioners how to create the authentic therapeutic relationships necessary for deep healing while managing their own emotional responses to intense trauma work. Her integration of personal recovery experience with advanced clinical training gives her unique insight into what actually creates lasting change.
For your practice, expect to gain specific EMDR techniques for addiction and trauma, tools for managing blocked processing and treatment resistance, and frameworks for building genuine therapeutic relationships with challenging clients. Her approach particularly benefits clinicians working with dual diagnosis cases, those wanting EMDR training outside traditional EMDRIA structures, or practitioners seeking to integrate authenticity and clinical excellence.
Quick Win: Salar's "authentic check-in" technique helps practitioners quickly assess their own emotional state before sessions - helping to prevent burnout while creating the genuine presence that facilitates deeper client healing and therapeutic breakthroughs.
Qualifications
- MSW, Clinical Social Work, Northwest Nazarene University 2011
- Advanced Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ACADC) 2018-2022
- Certified Clinical Trauma Professional - Level II (CCTP-II) 2017-2023
- Certified EMDR Practitioner 2018
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker 2011-2023
- Registered Clinical Supervisor 2018-2023
Authored Books
- EMDR for Dummies: The Breakthrough Therapy for Overcoming Anxiety, Stress, and Trauma (2024)
- The EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD: Skills to Manage Triggers, Move Beyond Traumatic Memories, and Take Back Your Life (2023)
- The EMDR Workbook for Addiction (forthcoming 2026)
- The EMDR Flip Chart (2023)
Professional Experience & Leadership
- Owner & Founder, The Mental Survivalist, 2023–present
- Owner, Recoverhe Counseling & Consulting, 2016-2023
- Certified EMDR Trainer, Independent Practice, current
- Clinical Trainer & Consultant, International
Clinical Experience
- Owner and Clinical Director, Addiction and Trauma Recovery Services, 2015–2020
- Various clinical positions in addiction prevention, intervention, treatment, and continuing care services
- Clinical supervision and training of other clinicians
Clinical Specialties
- EMDR therapy for complex trauma and addiction
- Integration of trauma and addiction treatment
- Treatment-resistant trauma presentations
- Clinical supervision and consultation
- Authentic therapeutic relationship building
- PTSD treatment and anxiety disorders
- Evidence-based trauma treatment modalities
Ready to develop authentic therapeutic relationships that create breakthrough results with complex trauma and addiction cases? Discover how Megan Salar's evidence-based yet deeply personal methods can help you integrate clinical excellence with the genuine presence that facilitates lasting healing.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 1
- Topics 0
- Duration 1.5 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English