Integral Eye Movement Therapy: A New Way to Process the Past

By Rose Ferguson, C. Ht.

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Integral Eye Movement Therapy: A New Way to Process the Past

Integral Eye Movement Therapy (IEMT) is a psychotherapy model aimed at reducing intense negative emotional states. It involves recalling a negative event while moving the eyes in specific directions, leading to a reduction in negative emotions associated with that event or image.

When we experience a traumatic event or have a negative experience (or we perceive an experience as negative), our mind gets overwhelmed and cannot process or file the information properly. That unprocessed memory starts taking up bandwidth in your mind and can translate into repeating negative emotions. Our past negative experiences can create a type of emotional template for related experiences. This causes us to view experiences through the lens of past emotional trauma rather than our current reality.

IEMT works by exploring your problem. It’s like unpacking a suitcase where you’ve thrown everything in, and maybe can’t even remember what you packed. We take it all out, organize it, and put it back into place neatly.

IEMT is content-free, meaning that you do not have to share details of your negative memories, experiences, or traumas in order to experience relief. By just giving a situation a label and a SUDS number (1-10, 10 being the worst), you can work on these negative memories. You won’t forget what happened, but you will lose the overwhelming negative feelings associated with the event.

During our life, we develop ideas about ourselves based on experiences, things people have told us, or even nicknames (such as “baby of the family” or “black sheep of the family”). Sometimes life situations change and leave us with a loss of identity (divorce, or widowhood). These identities are not always positive and can shape our reactions to situations in a way that is not always in alignment with our current goals.

Using IEMT helps you to improve your self-esteem, create improved boundaries in personal relationships, experience freedom from emotional pain, and improve your worldview by helping you to see your current reality with more clarity.

You can learn more and find a practitioner at: Integral Eye Movement Therapy.