Creating positive cognitions

We know that having a positive cognition in mind is crucial to effective EMDR. Sometimes the patient produces an excellent positive cognition with little help. However, more often, even when asked how s/he would rather think or feel about it, the patient is still unable to produce an appropriate positive self-statement. Instead, the desired cognition may refer to the actions of others, or contain a negative, or an unrealistic component. These factors limit the usefulness of the statement since an unrealistic cognition will not 'stick' for avariety of reasons; e.g., the person knows better, negatives are very tricky at the unconscious level, the work can never control the behavior of others, etc. When difficulty arises in producing a positive cognition, it is sometimes helpful to offer alternatives to the patient. However, many of us are uncomfortable about "putting words in people's mouths," which leaves us in the position of struggling to help the client obtain a positive cognition.

Newsletter

English

Landry Wildwind

Wildwind, L. (1991, December). Creating positive cognitions. EMDR Network Newsletter, 1(2), 11