Healing Early Bonds: A protocol for Early Attachment Trauma

Madeleine Jablonski

Abstract

The Healing Early Bonds (HEB) Protocol integrates EMDR therapy with Resource Therapy interweaves to address preverbal and attachment-related wounds by engaging both neurobiological and relational pathways to healing.

It draws inspiration from EMDR innovators Mark Brayne (2022) and Sandra Poulson (2017) and was created spontaneously in therapy to elicit deeper processing from a participant.

HEB invites clients to visualise themselves as infants in relation to their primary caregivers, activating implicit memory networks. Therapists are encouraged to attune somatically and intuitively, offering the empathic resonance the infant once needed. Using bilateral stimulation alongside imagery rescripting, clients can voice unmet needs, reframe early experiences, and establish secure internal attachments with resource figures.

HEB extends EMDR practice beyond single-event trauma, offering a structured yet adaptable approach to complex developmental wounds. By returning to early development, this protocol bypasses protective parts that often block processing of later events and weakens their impact for both participant and therapist.

This presentation describes the clinical framework, therapeutic process, and benefits of the HEB Protocol. Case examples illustrate how integrating EMDR with Resource Therapy promotes resolution of preverbal trauma, enhances attachment security, fosters self-compassion, and can be adapted across diverse populations, addressing unique needs and cultural considerations, enhancing inclusivity and effectiveness in therapy.

By uniting the structured precision of EMDR with the relational depth of Resource Therapy, the HEB Protocol exemplifies EMDR’s evolution, from trauma reprocessing to relational repair, and offers clinicians a creative, neuro-affective approach to transforming the earliest bonds that shape human resilience.

Biography

Madeleine Jablonski is a registered Psychologist, Accredited EMDR Consultant, Resource Therapy Trainer and Animal Assisted Therapist who works alongside her therapy dog, Lachlan.

She runs her own Consulting and Training business and is a Clinical Lead at Mindful Living Counselling and Psychology. Madeleine has experience working with complex childhood trauma, family violence, sexual assault and neurodivergence and working in community mental health.

She has a particular interest in dissociative presentations, including Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), as well as grief and loss, attachment trauma, and the spiritual and meaning-making aspects of psychology. Madeleine is also keenly interested in the role of intuition, attunement and relational presence within therapeutic spaces.

She is passionate about advancing EMDR therapy through innovative and creative applications across diverse client presentations and therapeutic settings.

Madeleine also enjoys supporting newly trained EMDR therapists, fostering their confidence and expanding their understanding of EMDR’s transformative potential through supervision, training and consultation.