EMDR and Family Therapy: Integrative Treatment for Attachment Trauma in Children

Book Details
- Publisher : WW Norton & Co
- Published : August 2025
- Cover : Paperback
- Pages : 336
- Category :
Forthcoming - Category 2 :
EMDR - Catalogue No : 98149
- ISBN 13 : 9781324053354
- ISBN 10 : 1324053356
Also by Debra Wesselmann
There are currently no reviews
Be the first to review
A practical guide to treating children suffering from early attachment trauma—now updated and revised.
Loss of a parent, separations, abuse, neglect, or a history of a difficult foster or orphanage experience can lead to profound emotional dysregulation in children. Working with these children can feel overwhelming for clinicians. But by integrating EMDR with family therapy, clinicians can strengthen parent–child attachment bonds and help to mend the early experiences that drive a traumatized child’s behavior.
This manual—an update to Debra Wesselmann’s popular Integrative Team Treatment for Attachment Trauma in Children—provides clear, step-by-step application of the Integrative Attachment Protocol for Children (IATP-C). In this treatment, psychoeducation assists parents in developing trauma-informed responses to their children’s challenging behaviors, while family therapy and EMDR therapy deepen children’s bonds with parents; improve self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-worth; and assist children with making sense of their traumatic pasts. Any EMDR-trained clinician—or any clinician pairing with an EMDR therapist—can implement this treatment approach to heal suffering from attachment trauma and offer children and their families a better future.
Reviews and Endorsements
Another outstanding and comprehensive book by Debra Wesselmann! Clinicians so often struggle to treat developmental trauma in children. Fortunately, Wesselmann’s IATP-C model has redefined the way clinicians heal developmental trauma in children, and do so with greater ease. In this latest publication, Wesselmann offers invaluable insights, tools, and information to assist clinicians working in this complex arena. What a wonderful contribution to the field of counseling and psychology!
Tamra Hughes, MA, LPC, EMDRIA-approved trainer and consultant and founder of EMDR Center of the Rockies and Greenwood Counseling Center, PLLC
As clinical director at a faith-based children’s home, I rely on the IATP-C framework to assist children affected by attachment trauma. Over a third of our children face brain-based conditions, including effects of in utero substance exposure. I’m thrilled Wesselmann’s new book includes specialized methods for helping these children and provides invaluable guidance for explaining their conditions to parents—a resource we’ve been seeking to enhance our care.
Scott Herman, MA, clinical director of Mustard Seed Ranch, a faith-based child care facility
Debra Wesselmann offers an invaluable resource to therapists working with families affected by attachment disruptions and childhood trauma. EMDR and Family Therapy is a comprehensive guide to effective, evidence-informed techniques with practical tools and real-life scenarios for incorporating Integrative Attachment Trauma Protocol into family therapy. More than a companion to Wesselmann’s previous work, this book provides innovative strategies to deepen and enhance therapeutic approaches, making it an essential read for professionals in the field.
Krista Reichert, LCSW RPT-S, director of postadoption services at The Baby Fold, and private child and family therapist
Wesselmann’s latest edition weaves together family therapy and attachment theory with an understanding of trauma and dissociation in ways that magnify the potency of EMDR. The chapter about increasing the reflective function capacity of parents alone is a vital resource for any therapist. Although the book is brimming with practical tools including therapeutic stories, therapy scripts, and checklists, the model is never mechanical. The Integrative Attachment Trauma Protocol for Children is innovative, individualized, and comprehensive. I would recommend this book to anyone working with children and families.
Karen Doyle Buckwalter, LCSW, Carolina Attachment and Trauma Services
About the Author(s)
Debra Wesselmann, MS, LIMHP, specializes in treating trauma and attachment problems in adults, children, and families. She is an EMDR Institute facilitator and EMDRIA-approved consultant, as well as cofounder of the Attachment and Trauma Center of Nebraska in Omaha, Nebraska.
Customer Reviews
Our customers have not yet reviewed this title. Be the first add your own review for this title.
You may also like
Freud in Istanbul: Turkish Contributions to Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
Salman Akhtar
Price £35.99
save £9.00
From Biology to Psychology in Jungian and Evolutionary Theory: The Infinite...
Stefano Carta
Price £34.99