Complex Trauma and Dissociation
From 10 to 12 May 2026, Dolores Mosquera will be giving a training course in Wellington, New Zealand.
4/7/2026
Program Description:
After many early cautions about the potential dangers of using EMDR with individuals suffering from dissociative disorders, limited methods have been offered for adapting standard EMDR procedures to this specific population. Based on these early cautions, EMDR is still considered by many clinicians as limited to the treatment of traumatic memories in high-functioning dissociative clients and only after a long preparation phase that depends on other treatment modalities. Confined by this conceptualisation, the use of EMDR is too often limited, and many survivors of severe traumatisation are unable to benefit from EMDR reprocessing and, if at all, only much later in the treatment process.
Dolores Mosquera developed (with AnabelGonzalez, M.D.) the Progressive Approach model for treating complex trauma and dissociation (2012) and the Trauma-Informed Relational Approach for Dissociative Parts (TADP) (2019, 2025). Using this trauma and AIP-informed models, clinicians can safely utilise a wide range of EMDR interventions (including BLS) from early in the preparatory phase of treatment for patients with dissociative disorders.
In this seminar, she will present her current practice of working with clients, including video demonstrations. Mosquera's deft clinical skills and ground-breaking innovative thinking teach a middle ground between "dissociation blind" aggressive EMDR interventions and overly cautious delays to the use of EMDR reprocessing.
Many dissociative clients have difficulty with hostile, critical voices. The internal conflict is sometimes so intense that the person even has difficulty carrying on an ordinary conversation. One factor that affects this conflict is how the patient deals with the voices or parts of the self.
Key Program Content:
Identify the internal system of dissociation and internal voices that are hostile and critical
How to read the function and purpose behind the saboteur parts of self
Using compassion and understanding to help deal with dissociative phobias within the internal system
Skills to reduce impasses and resistance that may complicate or reduce the efficacy of the treatment
Specific steps to organize the work with hostile parts and voices