Re:EMDR & Meditation - attn: Lindsay

You have framed a number of questions. Instead of answering each one, I will make some general comments that are relevant to your inquiry into EMDR.

EMDR and meditation, as well as certain other procedures, share one feature and have others that are not shared. The shared feature is that attention is turned internally to one degree or another. In EMDR, attention initially is directed to an agreed upon target image that represents what is disturbing about a particular issue or memory being worked upon. During the bilateral stimulation or eye movement sequences, attention itself is led by the processing. It may stay on the target image or drift to other times or internal features. Internal features commonly experienced include pictures, sounds, words, body sensations and emotions. The client's internal stance is a receptive one, of noticing or observing, not an effortful thinking or working on. Attention is periodically redirected to the original target to assess progress and remaining work to be done.

As a meditator myself, I can report that the subjective experience of EMDR is quite different from meditation, in that EMDR processing speed is faster than that associated with meditation. I have no doubt that meditation and other procedures can also access and enable processing of internal material, but EMDR is quite palpably different.

Perhaps others will add to these comments.

Replies:

Re:EMDR & Meditation - attn: Lindsay, by reader, 01/29/02

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

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