deninger.com - More about Eye Movement Integration

ye Movement Integration (EMI) is a brief therapy technique that is effective in treating acute and post-traumatic stress, phobias, addictions and negative or self-limiting thoughts. It is one of many developments of the Neuro Linguistic Programming field that began in the late 1970s. EMI is an outgrowth of the study of eye movement patterns by Robert Dilts and others (Dilts, Grinder, Bander and DeLozier, 1980). Dilts found that unconscious eye movements are systematic and correlate with the internal processing of different cognitive and neurosensory information. Connirae and Steve Andreas built on the work of Dilts and developed a specific therapeutic technique for interrupting and resolving problematic responses to a stimulus. They called the technique Eye Movement Integration (1989).

EMI was subsequently enhanced by Ron Klein of the American Hypnosis Training Academy (AHTA). He trademarked his work as Eye Movement Integration. Dr. Mike Deninger of Phoenix Counseling & Hypnotherapy made further additions to the technique taught at AHTA after having earned his NLP trainer certification from that organization.

Recent research has helped to shed light on the nature of trauma and the resulting neuro-physiological reactions of the mind and the body. It is believed that when faced with a traumatic event, the body is flooded with a variety of stress hormones. Scientists believe that this triggering of hormones interferes with the brain's processing of information about the event. Further, scientists have speculated that a person's ability to deal with a traumatic situation is blocked, causing the event to remain in an anxiety producing form when stored and retrieved as a memory. As a result, one continues to recall the full force of the event along with the spectrum and severity of emotions experienced at the time of the trauma. This prevents the brain from adequately processing and categorizing the memory as in the past and of no current danger to the individual. Subsequently, the traumatic memory, as well as its associated emotions, are "replayed" or re-experienced in the present. This happens in the form of flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks, or other forms of anxiety whenever the individual is reminded of the trauma.

In the clinical setting, a therapist uses EMI to interrupt the patterns that were established as a result of a traumatic event. The client is asked to think about the event and/or to project a representation (memory) of the event out on a surface away from where they are sitting. While the client is projecting the memory, the therapist asks the client to follow the movement of a finger or pen in the foreground with their eyes. Because eye movements are associated with the processing of specific types of information by the brain, it is believed that this technique allows the brain to reprocess the event without its traumatic aspects. The changes achieved are often dramatic.