Transpersonal psychotherapy panel:  EMDR & transpersonal approaches to psychotherapy

1) In the Transpersonal approach to psychotherapy, the existence is acknowledged and the presence is invoked of a higher order of Consciousness, the already healthy and perfect organizing principle that Jung called the Self. After using EMDR to process and integrate the personal history, it is possible to transcend the personal self and its strong beliefs and attitudes, and to rest in a state of no-mind or Self, which is beyond or before the experience of duality, and is often recognized as emptiness, peace, contentment, wisdom and love. It is from this state that the therapist can best use EMDR, fully listening to the Oneness of himself and the client. This listening is often called intuition. In addition to introducing the Transpersonal approach in general, Sheila Krystal will present psychotherapy as Satsang and describe the use of EMDR to facilitate movement from self to Self. She will discuss the state of mind most effective for the therapist to enter while using EMDR and will lead a meditation to help create this no-mind state. 2) Joan Wager will present the basic premises of body-based psychology within a Transpersonal content and its relationship to EMDR, illustrating through discussion and case presentation how embodied consciousness, wisdom, compassion, concern for all sentient beings, is the path of body-based transpersonal psychology. She will show how, as we broaden., our concept of who we are, and as body, emotions and mind become integrated, we experience transformation of our being with a new sense of Self in relation to others and the universe. 3) Suzanne Slyman will demonstrate, through theoretical discussion and case presentations, how she combines Gestalt, Self- Acceptance-Training, Transpersonal approaches to psychotherapy, and EMDR She will emphasize several interesting commonalties in these approaches to psychotherapy, including the following; each relies on the belief that there is, in every individual, an inner organizing principle that moves towards wholeness, each assumes that we are self-regulating organisms, each understands and values the power of being witness to the present moment, and each makes room for the client to discover a heretofore "unimaginable outcome" to his or her work. The Enneagram is an ancient psychological typology that describes nine personality types and their interrelationships. Each type is defined by a chief mental and emotional preoccupation to which attention habitually returns. The types correlate well with the diagnostic categories of current psychological practice, but can open us to the fact that the repeating preoccupation of heart and mind that we in the West tend to dismiss as merely neurotic can also be used as potential access points to higher states of consciousness. 5) During their presentation, Sharon Berbower and Suzanne Pregerson will explore their use of the Enneagram and EMDR especially examining how EMDR can access the core personality strategies and defense mechanisms of each of the nine types. With the deconstruction of the habitual responses of the personality, the possibility exists for the emergence of 'True Self. EMDR may be a key to the profound transformation of personality types. 6) Irv Katz will then make a concluding presentation including tying the earlier presentations together and facilitating a question and answer period between the audience and the panel members.

Conference

English

Sheila D. Krystal
Sharon Berbower
Irv Katz
Suzanna Pregerson
Suzanne Slyman
Joan Wager

Krystal, D. S., Berbower, S., Katz, I., Katz, I., Pregerson, S., Slyman, S., & Wager, J. (1995, June). Transpersonal psychotherapy panel: EMDR & transpersonal approaches to psychotherapy. Presentation at the EMDR Network Conference, Santa Monica, CA