I recently attended the 16th Annual Conference on Energy Psychology in Chandler AZ. It is desert country! Beautiful flora along the nature trails, and a serene location on the Reservation. Bruce Ecker, LMFT, presented on the research of Transformational Change in Psychotherapy. Bruce is the author of Unlocking the Emotional Brain, and the co-author of Coherance Therapy. Transformation, according to Ecker, is comprised of the cessation of symptoms, non-reactive emotions, new ways of thinking and behavior that are effortless and permanent. When those outcomes are evident in clients, it is such a pleasure to behold!
As Bruce was describing these components of transformational change, I found my mind combing through my many sessions of EMDR with clients whose symptoms ceased, who were emotionally neutral to events once so easily triggered and disturbing, and who could now talk about these events with a calm body/mind.
I have studied Somatic Experiencing, Brainspotting, Meridian Therapies, and many more. With EMDR, I have observed body movements so microscopic that a client could not possibly reproduce them, and many outside their conscious awareness. Clients who experience these body movements look like the clients I have observed in videos of Somatic Experiencing therapy. Through EMDR, clients experience a deep and profound shift in their beliefs, thoughts, emotions, and perceptions of themselves and their environment. The body/mind, now cleared of its previous emotional learning, has space for new learning new patterns. Transformation is what I have the blessing to witness as clients think freshly and feel freshly. Incidents are no longer triggered by current events, but remain truly in the past where they can be remembered for the lessons learned and the wisdom gained.