Re:EMDR and Children

There has been one study to my knowledge investigating this question (Nicosio, 1995) in which it was found with a small group of subjects that the EEG brain waves during EMDR are not the same as those in hypnosis. There need to be more studies exploring this question.

In hypnosis, attention is typically focused, as in EMDR, but in hypnosis, there is usually a deliberate attempt to relax the individual to sink into a deep trance state. In EMDR, there is no attempt to relax the individual; indeed at the outset of EMDR, there is a deliberate attempt to activate disturbing material. Instead of the relaxation causing anxiety to go down, as in hypnosis, EMDR acts quite different. That is, the activation of disturbing material causes a high initial disturbance (not relaxation) and then over the course of a 45-90 minute session, disturbance gradually decreases, to ultimately feel neutral.

Some of us combine EMDR and hypnosis in order to adjust the level of disturbance and keep it in an optimal range, however, the standard EMDR protocol does not include hypnotic procedures. The standard protocol does however include the use of relaxation or "safe place" imagery at the end of the session if needed to reduce any residual level of disturbance (since the EMDR doesn't always fit into the available session time).

Replies:

There are no replies to this message.

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

Copyright © 1996-2004 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.