Utilization of EMDR Therapy with Grief and Mourning, April 18-19, 2026

Course Description

This workshop will focus on integrating EMDR therapy into the treatment of grief and mourning. The death of a loved one can be a time of unparalleled distress and adaptation to the loss can be very challenging. Even when uncomplicated, bereavement can result in significant psychological, behavioral, social, physical, and economic consequences (Osterweis, Solomon, & Green, 1984; Solomon & Rando, 2007, 2012, 2015).   EMDR therapy can be integrated into the treatment of grief and mourning to process the distressing memories and present triggers that complicate the bereavement and enable the mourner to assimilate and accommodate the loss.

Attachment theory increases our understanding of complicated grief and mourning and explains individual differences.   Research has shown that attachment style is an important determinant of how one grieves.  The loss of a significant person in adulthood can evoke many of the same feelings and responses that accompanied separation from an attachment figure during childhood (Kosminsky & Jordan, 2016).   Consequently, understanding attachment theory can guide the EMDR clinician in identification and treatment of the maladaptively stored information complicating the grief.

This presentation will discuss grief and mourning, the processes the mourner has to go through for adaptive assimilation and accommodation of the loss, factors that can complicate bereavement, and how EMDR can be integrated into an overall treatment plan.  Attachment theory and other models of grief will be presented that can inform EMDR therapy.   Heavy emphasis is placed throughout the workshop on the analysis of the clinical material.  Videotapes of EMDR sessions will be used to illustrate the application of EMDR to the grief and mourning of traumatic bereavement as well as to demonstrate the “art” of EMDR.  Case presentations and live demonstrations are utilized.

Learning Objectives

• Describe grief and 3 responses to it.
• Describe grief versus mourning.
• Describe 5 factors that complicate the grief
• Describe 5 personality variables involved in the attachment styles.
• List 3 attachment styles.
• Describe 2 secondary strategies in the grieving process.
• Identify the processes necessary for assimilation and accommodation of loss
• Describe Loss Orientation versus Restoration Orientation
• Describe attachment theory and its relation to grief and mourning
• List the 6 “R” processes of mourning.
• List 3 symptoms of complicated grief disorder.
• Discuss the 8 phases of EMDR therapy as it relates to the grieving process.
• Describe how to integrate EMDR therapy into a treatment framework for grief and loss.
• Utilize EMDR therapy for treating grief and loss.