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| - | ====== Integral Eye Movement Therapy | + | metatag-og: |
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| - | Integral eye movement therapy | + | metatag-og:image=(https:// |
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| + | ====== Integral Eye Movement Technique ====== | ||
| - | ==== Background | + | Integral Eye Movement Technique (IEMT), also referred to in this wiki as Integral Eye Movement Therapy, uses directed eye movements |
| - | The roots of this model could be traced to Steve Andreas | + | Practitioners use observation |
| - | This development followed | + | The wiki's proposed [[governing_principles|Roy-informed governing principles]] place this work within |
| - | From this followed the development of a set of applications of these phenomena that enabled Integral Eye Movement Therapy to be applied to the areas of neurological imprints specifically, | + | ===== Background |
| - | {{ :influences-on-iemt-980x723-1.jpg? | + | The roots of this model can be traced to Steve Andreas and Connirae Andreas' |
| + | IEMT's development account links its procedures to observations of changes in imagery, feeling and self-experience during eye movements. Such observations can inform a practice model, but do not themselves identify the neural processes responsible. References to emotional " | ||
| ===== Emotional Imprints ===== | ===== Emotional Imprints ===== | ||
| - | Negative | + | Within IEMT, an emotional |
| - | Thus creating a painful memory that may then serve as an emotional | + | The K-Protocol, also known as the [[kinaesthetic_pattern|IEMT Kinaesthetic Pattern]] and formerly the Basic Pattern, begins with the client' |
| - | With the use of the " | + | An accessible early memory is material recalled now, not proof of the earliest causal event. Enquiry should allow uncertainty and should not require the client |
| - | "The K-Protocol" | + | IEMT descriptions also refer to "axis deviations", subtle |
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| - | The simple form of the K-Protocol is used to resolve simple traumatic experiences with simple emotional loading. An example of this might be a simple dog phobia where the person recalls being bitten by a dog. The simple form does not require much calibration | + | |
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| - | The complex form of the K-Protocol is utilised where the events were more confusing and the emotional consequences are more complicated. An example of this might be abuse in childhood. The complex form requires a high level of calibration by the practitioner in order to achieve desirable results. | + | |
| + | The practical task is to record the agreed target and what changes, then review whether the result is useful in the client' | ||
| ===== Identity Imprints ===== | ===== Identity Imprints ===== | ||
| - | Identity [[imprinting|imprinting]] | + | IEMT uses "Identity |
| - | Other deeper aspects | + | The model distinguishes a description |
| - | Thus, IEMT also addresses | + | Changes in circumstances can make a role or self-description difficult to sustain. For example, a promotion can alter a person' |
| - | In some cases, | + | Identity work should follow |
| - | By specifically addressing the [[imprinting|identity imprint]], this enables the therapist to bypass the beliefs that often support the undesired identity such as, "I cannot do that because I am a depressive" | + | ===== Patterns of Chronicity ===== |
| + | IEMT uses " | ||
| - | ===== Patterns of Chronicity ===== | + | A response may reflect uncertainty, |
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| - | A pattern of chronicity is a behavioural pattern that serves to defend the problem | + | |
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| - | Whilst a therapeutic | + | |
| - | IEMT offers the model of recognition | + | **A client may disagree, report no benefit, decline a topic or stop a procedure. None of these actions alone establishes a Pattern |
| - | IEMT identifies | + | The five patterns |
| - | - The Three-Stage Overreaction | + | - The Three-Stage Overreaction, formerly |
| - The Maybe Man. | - The Maybe Man. | ||
| - | - The Great Big " | + | - The Great Big " |
| - | - Testing for the Existence of the Problem Rather Than Testing for Change | + | - Testing for the Existence of the Problem Rather Than Testing for Change. |
| - | - "Being at Effect" | + | - "Being at Effect" |
| - | {{ : | + | The names are retained here to connect with IEMT teaching. Descriptive, |
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| ==== The Three-Stage Overreaction Pattern (3SAR) ==== | ==== The Three-Stage Overreaction Pattern (3SAR) ==== | ||
| - | This is a pattern resulting from the conviction of some clients that the therapist (and others) should act according to their expectations. When a client experiences an undesirable emotion, he/she may try to transfer the responsibility for that undesirable emotion onto the therapist | + | This model describes |
| + | ==== Stage 1. Signal (Warning) ==== | ||
| - | <WRAP center round box 90%> | + | The person expresses discomfort, |
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| - | === The Three-Stages === | + | |
| - | == Stage 1. Signal (Warning) == | + | |
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| - | This is the first stage of the pattern leading to punishment - it manifests itself as an expression of dissatisfaction | + | |
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| - | For example, "//I don't like the fact that we're talking | + | |
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| - | Also commonly expressed | + | |
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| - | "Your tone of voice is annoying to me." | + | |
| - | "You are making me very uncomfortable." | + | |
| - | "I don't like the way you are looking at me." | + | |
| ==== Stage 2. Signal Amplification (Threat) ==== | ==== Stage 2. Signal Amplification (Threat) ==== | ||
| - | The second stage often involves | + | The message becomes more emphatic. If the client says they will stop if a topic continues, respect that limit and agree the next step. The practitioner should consider whether the earlier signal was missed, whether the work is appropriate and whether consent remains |
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| - | For example, “If we continue | + | |
| ==== Stage 3. Overreaction (Punishment) ==== | ==== Stage 3. Overreaction (Punishment) ==== | ||
| - | This is the client' | + | The traditional model interprets |
| - | E.g. taking offence, staying silent, leaving, hysterical crying, etc. | + | ==== The Maybe Man ==== |
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| - | ===== The Maybe Man ===== | + | |
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| - | A pattern called the maybe-man is an expression of uncertainty of the client' | + | |
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| - | Often it results from insufficient engagement of the client with their feeling, beliefs and inner experiences. It is expressed in a language characterised by terms that lack precision and clarity. It is based on descriptions and statements rich in generalizations and lacking specific content. In some cases, it may also constitute a subconscious resistance of the client' | + | |
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| - | The simplest example is the inaccurate determination of one's emotions on a numerical scale: “I feel stressed out at a level of… something like five or six out of ten.” | + | |
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| - | Linguistic modifiers are commonly employed, such as, "I kind of, sort of, maybe feel X," "Well, I might say that I get angry", | + | |
| + | This label refers to recurrent qualifying language such as "kind of", "sort of" or " | ||
| + | "About five or six out of ten" is a usable approximate report, not evidence of insufficient engagement. Ask for a concrete situation, allow time and offer a different way of describing the experience. If the meaning remains unclear, record that uncertainty rather than presuming unconscious resistance. | ||
| ==== The Great Big "What If" Question ==== | ==== The Great Big "What If" Question ==== | ||
| + | Within IEMT, this describes a proposed pattern in which a hypothetical exception is used to invalidate an entire course of action. It is more specific than ordinary worry about the future. A question about risk or whether an intervention will help may be entirely reasonable. | ||
| - | This pattern is based on the question “What if…?”, by means of which the client tries to find a gap in a given approach, solution or generalisation. The question is a trap. | + | For example, "What if my partner |
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| - | Usually, the person asking this type of question has a ready answer, which he or she does not verbalize. Often the question 'what if X?' is intended to imply an answer of "then Y", where X is a single example of a potential difficulty | + | |
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| - | So, "What if X is true, then B will also be true." However, this is actually a //complex equivalency// | + | |
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| - | For example, a man who comes to the conclusion | + | |
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| ==== Testing for Existence of the Problem Rather Than Testing for Change ==== | ==== Testing for Existence of the Problem Rather Than Testing for Change ==== | ||
| + | This describes attention to what remains difficult while overlooking a relevant improvement. Review the original baseline and agreed goal so that both progress and continuing difficulty can be considered. | ||
| - | The fourth pattern of chronicity is characteristic for those who tend to verify | + | A remaining problem may still matter greatly |
| - | These are individuals who in their observations will overlook a 99% improvement and focus on 1 per cent of the remaining problem. | + | ==== "Being at effect" |
| - | This pattern | + | This distinction is used in IEMT to explore perceived agency: what the person believes they can influence |
| + | Responsibility for abuse, discrimination or another person' | ||
| + | Where a person has overlooked a possible action, explore it collaboratively. Where there is little individual control, acknowledge that reality and consider support or collective action. Receiving help or needing the practitioner to take an active role is not, by itself, evidence of passivity or an inability to benefit. | ||
| - | ==== “Being at effect” rather than “being at cause” | + | ===== Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ===== |
| - | A pattern in which people see themselves as subjects of problems can thus limit their ability to influence the situations in which they find themselves. | ||
| - | For coaches and therapists, this is a pattern that requires | + | The " |
| - | Inexperienced personal development practitioners, but also professional psychologists, sometimes promote the idea that “all the problems are in our heads”, which is harmful and counterproductive. | + | The exploratory eye-movement study described below does not establish IEMT as an effective PTSD treatment. PTSD assessment and treatment decisions should follow appropriate clinical guidance and competence. NICE recommendations include trauma-focused CBT and, under specified circumstances, EMDR; evidence for EMDR cannot simply be transferred to IEMT. [[https:// |
| - | However, in many cases, many people find relief from feeling responsible for their very own decisions, ill-considered actions or inaction, in the belief that they are only subject to external factors and no change is in their power. If objective facts contradict such a view, it indicates a typical pattern of “being at effect instead of being at cause”. | + | {{ : |
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| - | People who manifest this pattern expect that the help will consist of the work of the therapist and that they will only be passive recipients. Such an approach excludes the possibility of change and effective help and requires a skilful guide for the client to find his or her agency (which of course will also entail an element of responsibility). | + | |
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| - | ===== Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ===== | + | |
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| - | IEMT posits that central to the PTSD experience is a shame-based micro-experience that exists below the diagnostic threshold and as a result is usually overlooked by both patient and clinician. Referred to as "the lynchpin" | + | |
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| ===== Physiological State Accessing Cues (PSACs) ===== | ===== Physiological State Accessing Cues (PSACs) ===== | ||
| - | Physiological State Accessing Cues is known in IEMT as PSAC’s for short. | + | Within IEMT, Physiological State Accessing Cues (PSACs) refers to observed changes |
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| - | It has been seen that when a person experiences trauma one of the physiological responses that can occur is a frozen | + | |
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| - | Not everybody locking into a particular physiological state will have experienced what is traditionally know as a ‘trauma’, however as seen when working with PTSD what is trauma to one person can be shrugged off by another. So a person develops a coping strategy that is physiologically based and the stance or position reinforces the strength | + | |
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| - | In trauma and PTSD situations, there is a down-regulation social engagement system that can keep people in a state of hyperarousal via the sympathetic part of the autonomic nervous system (myelinated fibres), disconnection via the reptilian un-myelinated vagus or in a coping mode i.e. avoidance. Each of these responses is a way to survive in optimal safety. A person' | + | |
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| - | The IEMT Practitioner is ever-observant of body language. When somebody is talking about an issue and accessing their associated state, shifts in physiology can be detected. This may be very obvious | + | |
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| - | The IEMT Practitioner can make use of the [[https:// | + | |
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| - | Through these processes, the practitioner is able to demonstrate to a person the relationship between their physiology and emotional state, and then with the subtle change in that physiology, there can be a tangible shift. This can often be a significant moment of insight for some people to understand that if they want to stop or downgrade the strength of a particular feeling or state all they have to do at that moment is a subtle physiological shift. | + | |
| - | Such changes using the PSAC’s model is not necessarily creating long-term neurological | + | The practitioner can describe what they noticed and ask whether |
| - | These principles can be utilised to incapacitate unconscious access into negative states. One method for doing this is to use humorous shock and provocation to anchor | + | A change in reported distress |
| + | The [[governing_principles|Roy-informed approach]] also asks whether rest, physical support, assessment or a change in demands is needed. Provocation or shock should not be used to override a boundary or treat a request to stop as something to overcome. Evaluate the client' | ||
| ===== Psoriasis ===== | ===== Psoriasis ===== | ||
| - | One of the more unusual applications | + | The wiki discusses an exploratory application |
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| - | Psoriasis is a non-contagious dermatological disease affecting around 2% of the population. Studies reveal that psoriasis is mostly related to stressful life events, body mass index growth, smoking, alcohol use, skin infection, | + | |
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| - | Although psoriasis is primarily treated through means of prescription medication, psychotherapeutic approaches have also become more frequent as a secondary or complementary approach, especially in reducing the emotional stressful disorders associated with psoriasis. A case study in 2016 published | + | |
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| - | The full case study is published here: https:// | + | |
| + | These observations do not establish that IEMT treats psoriasis or prevents epileptic seizures, and should not be used to justify changing medical care. The report is preliminary material, not proof of a treatment effect. | ||
| ===== Controversies ===== | ===== Controversies ===== | ||
| - | Following his accusations that IEMT was plagiarised work, Michael Carroll posted the following via the John Grinder Facebook page on 18th June 2020, (//all spelling, grammar, and punctuation as per original posting// | + | Following his accusations that IEMT was plagiarised work, Michael Carroll posted the following via the John Grinder Facebook page on 18 June 2020 (//all spelling, grammar, and punctuation as per original posting// |
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| EMDR and its subsequent copies came from NLP and directly from John Grinder, who is never referenced as the source in the new therapies, which are not new, just renamed! 🙁 | EMDR and its subsequent copies came from NLP and directly from John Grinder, who is never referenced as the source in the new therapies, which are not new, just renamed! 🙁 | ||
| - | People have been renaming EMDR through the years dipping into a scrabble bag of letters coming up with new acronyms to describe an old process, one that came right from John Grinder. This field needs a good clean up. | + | People have been renaming EMDR through the years dipping into a scrabble bag of letters coming up with new acronyms to describe an old process, one that came right from John Grinder. This field needs a good clean-up. |
| </ | </ | ||
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| A question posted to John Grinder asking which part of IEMT matches this description has never been answered and Michael Carroll has declined to justify further his accusations. | A question posted to John Grinder asking which part of IEMT matches this description has never been answered and Michael Carroll has declined to justify further his accusations. | ||
| - | A trademark claim by Ron Klein that threatened IEMT trainers with legal action for breach of trademark in 2019 due to the similarity of the names "Eye Movement Integration" | + | A trademark claim by Ron Klein that threatened IEMT trainers with legal action for breach of trademark in 2019 due to the similarity of the names "Eye Movement Integration" |
| + | ===== Evidence and interpretation ===== | ||
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| + | A 2026 exploratory study compared IEMT-directed eye movements, EMDR-directed eye movements and a control condition in 33 adults recruited from the general population, with conditions presented in randomised order. Both eye-movement conditions had lower reported distress than control after the intervention and at one week; the active conditions did not significantly differ. [[https:// | ||
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| + | This finding concerns the studied procedures and outcomes. It does not establish equivalence of the complete therapies, effectiveness for particular diagnoses, the proposed imprint or chronicity mechanisms, or the validity of the Roy-informed planning framework. Claims about durable benefit and mechanism need evidence matched to those claims. | ||
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| + | See [[iemt_research_evidence|Research Evidence for IEMT]] for a source-based overview, and [[iemt_emdr_2026_study|IEMT and EMDR: The 2026 Comparative Study]] for the experiment' | ||
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| ===== See also ===== | ===== See also ===== | ||
| * [[adapt|The IEMT Adaptive Model]] | * [[adapt|The IEMT Adaptive Model]] | ||
| + | * [[governing_principles|Roy-informed Governing Principles]] | ||
| + | * [[treatment_plans|IEMT Treatment Plans]] | ||
| + | * [[adaptive_formulation|Adaptive Formulation and Outcome Review Sheet]] | ||
| * [[models|Alternative Eye Movement Therapy Models]] | * [[models|Alternative Eye Movement Therapy Models]] | ||
| + | * [[pain|Gate Theory of Pain]] | ||
| ===== References ===== | ===== References ===== | ||
| - | Austin, Andrew, T. (2015). Integral Eye Movement Therapy. In Neukrug, Edward S. (Ed.), //The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy// | + | Austin, Andrew T. (2015). Integral Eye Movement Therapy. In Neukrug, Edward S. (Ed.), //The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy// |
| - | Moore, J. M., & Manea, A. I. (2018). The Use of Integral Eye Movement Therapy (IEMT) in the Treatment of Psoriasis Induced Skin Eruption | + | Moore, J. M., & Manea, A. I. (2018). The Use of Integral Eye Movement Therapy (IEMT) in the Treatment of Psoriasis-Induced Skin Eruption: A Case Study. //Journal of Experiential Psychotherapy / Revista de PSIHOterapie Experientiala//, |
| Sattar, N. (May 24, 2021). Eye-Moving Breakthrough in the Treatment of Psoriasis. //MedIzzy Journal//. [[https:// | Sattar, N. (May 24, 2021). Eye-Moving Breakthrough in the Treatment of Psoriasis. //MedIzzy Journal//. [[https:// | ||
| - | Richards, S. (2021) Integral Eye Movement Techniques | + | Richards, S. (2021). Integral Eye Movement Techniques: The Definitive Guide. // |
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