In this talk, Dr. Ross will discuss the relationships between attachment conflicts, dissociation and EMDR Therapy. A core principle from his Trauma Model Therapy (TMT) is the problem of attachment to the perpetrator – this will be explained and then linked to dissociation and EMDR Therapy. Four meanings of the word ‘dissociation’ will be reviewed to clarify the discussion. Within TMT a basic function of dissociation is to protect a child’s attachment systems and solve the problem of attachment to the perpetrator. The child also develops a conflicted, ambivalent and dissociated relationship with him or herself. These dissociated elements of self can be targets within EMDR Therapy, which is fundamentally based on a trauma-dissociation model, as Dr. Ross will propose. The goal of EMDR Therapy is to integrate these dissociated elements with the Adaptive Information Processing Model.

Objectives

Participants will be able to:

1. Describe the problem of attachment to the perpetrator.
2. Describe how dissociation solves the problem of attachment to the perpetrator.
3. Describe how a conflicted relationship with adult caretakers is repeated in a trauma survivor’s relationship with him or herself.