What is Integral Eye Movement Therapy?

There are a number of eye movement therapies in use in the therapeutic world, the most well-known of which is Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). Integral Eye Movement Therapy (or IEMT) bears some similarities to EMDR whilst being different from it in important ways. IEMT is a brief change model that allows the client to dissociate from disturbing memories, reduce the intensity of negative emotions and address identity issues.

No one knows exactly how eye movement therapies work although the general thinking is that the eye movements required in therapy when the client follows the therapist’s finger in certain directions, interrupt the way the memory or emotion is encoded in the brain.

IEMT works with memories. These might be specific memories that the client knows about that have an emotional charge. Or, we might encourage the client to locate the memories that seem to have something to do with a distressing or negative emotion that the client is experiencing. The eye movements are then used to reduce the emotional charge.

Let me give you an example. When I was training, I was required to do case studies and write up my experience. I worked with someone who had a fear of public speaking which was potentially holding her back from pursuing particular jobs. Initially, we worked with memories she had from school and university days around this issue. These were memories of feeling humiliated and being criticised. Secondly, we worked on the feeling she had when she thought about giving a presentation or speaking publicly and used a protocol where we located associated memories and with the eye movements, reduced their emotional charge and even neutralised them.

We then worked with the identity issues involved around being able to communicate her points and the possibility of being questioned and being unable to answer. We also worked with her internal representation of authority figures since this formed part of the anxiety about speaking in front of others.

We were able to work in this very flexible way with IEMT and therefore able to address the different aspects of speaking in public that were troubling this client.

Some days later, the client told me she no longer feared giving a talk, presentation or attending an interview, was generally less concerned about speaking up and what others might think of her. This was the result of 2 sessions work.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will be using IEMT extensively in my practice. The beauty of it is that it is completely content-free, so there is no need for the therapist to know exactly what the memory is.