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Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Self-administered EMDR without a therapist is very useful for a lot of things!, published by Anton Rodenhauser on May 25, 2023 on LessWrong.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy is a structured therapy that encourages the patient to focus briefly on a traumatic memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements, but also tones or taps), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the traumatic memories.
EMDR is usually done with a therapist. However, you can also just do self-administered EMDR on your own - as often and whenever you want without any costs! Most people don't seem to know this great "do it on your own" option exists - I didn't. So my main goal with this post is to just make you aware of the fact that: "Hey, there's this great therapeutic tool called EMDR, and you can just do it!". And bearing some important caveats in mind, I highly recommend it. I've been doing emotional work like extended meditation retreats, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Ideal Parent Figures (IPF), Focusing, etc., for a long time, but self-administered EMDR has actually been one of the most helpful techniques of them all to me!
Also, I've found EMDR helpful for a much broader set of problems than the official EMDR protocol implies. You can use it for anything "trauma" in the broadest sense of the word - any unhelpful emotional schema; any strongly negatively charged emotion, belief, or memory that is kind of stuck in unconsciousness.
EMDR also doesn't have to be this complicated thing at all. I don't think you need to know more than there is in this blog post. You can totally 80/20 this, i.e. get 80% of the benefits from just 20% of the knowledge/effort.
How to do self-administered EMDR
Read here how to do EMDR with a therapist:
For self-administered EMDR, you simply do the same, just without the therapist! So to summarize the most important steps of the official protocol, you:
Identify:
A specific scene or picture that best represents the traumatic event you’re targeting with this treatment. This is your “target.”
A negative or unhelpful belief that is associated with the traumatic event. For example, “I am helpless,” “I am worthless”, or “I fucked up and therefore I’m a bad person.”
A more wholesome alternative positive belief you would rather believe instead. This belief should reflect what is appropriate in the present. It should also feel true, at least to your rational current more wise self. For example, perhaps you survived an assault, with the subsequent negative belief: “I’m in danger.” You might replace it with the positive belief: “I’m safe now.”
Focus on your target (the traumatic memory/event/whatever) while you subject yourself to bilateral stimulation. E.g. you look at a dot moving from left to right on a screen. Pay careful attention to all the negative beliefs and disturbing emotions and bodily sensations that arise. Take note of all your reactions to the processing - good, bad, or neutral, and any new insights, associations, or emotions you experience. During this process, you “digest” or process the feelings, images, and beliefs that occur in relation to the trauma. This step is called "desensitization." You do this until the target is no longer emotionally disturbing.
Once you've desensitized your target, you can begin the "installation step." Again subject yourself to bilateral stimulation while you focus on your target. But now you also focus on your positive belief and try to override the original negative belief with it. To do this, it might help to alternate between the two beliefs in your mind, but put more emphasis on the positive belief. Do this until the new belief is "installed" and you no longer believe the negative old belief.
Here's what you can do fo...
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