Complex Trauma Illuminated
What EMDR Clinicians Need to See
Written by Susie Morgan, LMFT, BCETS - June 8, 2025
When it comes to understanding Complex Trauma in EMDR therapy, it's essential to recognize that we aren't just looking at single events or even repeated severe experiences. Complex trauma involves layers—major traumas, smaller hurts, and critically, the unmet attachment needs from early in life. Understanding how these layers are woven together gives EMDR clinicians a clearer roadmap for effective treatment.
What Makes Complex Trauma "Complex"?
It’s seeing beyond just the “blood and fire” Big T traumas, recognizing the quiet yet profound ways early attachment needs shape vulnerability and resilience.
The DSM emphasizes single, severe traumatic events, like an accident or assault. The ICD broadens this view somewhat, acknowledging multiple traumatic experiences. But both still miss something critical—the subtle yet profound impact of early unmet attachment needs and lower-intensity adverse experiences. These early attachment deficits profoundly influence a client's vulnerability and resilience in the face of later traumatic events.
Trauma Memory Networks: Understanding the "Dark Trees"
It’s the networked branches of proof, each experience reinforcing a deep-seated belief, such as “I’m not safe” or “I’m unlovable.”
Imagine each distressing experience as a seed planted deep within the nervous system when its capacity for processing is exceeded. From this seed, a Trauma Memory Network—the "Dark Tree"—begins to grow. Each new trauma or adverse experience adds branches, further reinforcing the network. These branches grow as the brain over-sensitizes, magnetically connecting new experiences as supporting evidence for core negative beliefs such as “I’m not safe” or “I’m unlovable.”
Complex trauma typically doesn't involve just one Dark Tree but multiple—each with its unique core negative beliefs. Our job as EMDR clinicians is to identify each Dark Tree clearly, mapping out how they have developed, intertwine, and reinforce each other.
Adaptive Memory Resources: Cultivating the "Light Tree"
It’s the trunk of resilience—formed by attunement, nurture, and protection in their earliest relationships—that determines how firmly clients can stand when life shakes them.
Just as critical as understanding the Dark Tree is recognizing and assessing a client's adaptive memory resources—their "Light Tree." This tree grows from a different kind of seed: the degree to which early attachment needs were met. When caregivers provided attuned, nurturing, predictable, protective, playful, and guiding interactions, the trunk of the Light Tree grows strong, giving the nervous system robust resilience.
But what happens when the trunk of the Light Tree is "spindly" due to unmet attachment needs? The client becomes more vulnerable to overwhelm by traumatic experiences, creating fertile ground for new Dark Trees. Here, EMDR therapists must carefully assess whether a client has developed robust adaptive resources later in life despite early deficits—or if their adaptive tree remains sparse overall, highlighting areas that will need additional nurturing and support during therapy.
Guiding EMDR Treatment with Both Trees in Mind
It’s carefully assessing the adaptive memory resources—understanding clearly what resources exist and which areas require intentional cultivation.
Effective EMDR treatment of Complex Trauma means clinicians clearly identify and map the trauma networks—the roots and branches of each Dark Tree—and thoroughly assess the adaptive resources of the Light Tree. By clearly understanding what adaptive resources are available and identifying what resources are missing or insufficient, clinicians can plan targeted EMDR resource interventions and interweaves, ensuring clients are well-supported through their healing process.
Closing Thoughts
Complex Trauma treatment with EMDR is about more than symptom relief—it’s about clearly mapping the intertwined networks of trauma and resilience. Deeply assessing the Dark Trees of traumatic memories and thoroughly evaluating the Light Tree of adaptive resources, allows EMDR clinicians to guide clients toward profound symptom relief, lasting transformation, and deepened resilience.
