The use of hypnosis and EMDR combined with energy therapies in the treatment of phobias and dissociative, posttraumatic stress, and eating disorders

The treatment of dissociative disorders, PTSD, eating disorders, and phobias is frequently difficult and traumatic for the client. One author (LG) has been treating clients with a combination of hypnosis, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), thought field therapy, emotional freedom technique, visual kinesthetic dissociation, and other energy field therapies for the purpose of shortening the length of therapy and making it less painful. Clients occasionally feel violated when such energy therapies are used on their own. For those clients it is upsetting to have their symptoms taken away without having any sense of the process involved as it takes place. When this reaction occurs, EMDR and hypnosis can be extremely useful when used in combination with thought field therapy and other energy therapies.To decide which modalities to use for a particular client, a clinician can make use of muscle testing. My experience has been that, except for the simplest cases, none of the therapies alone (i.e., hypnosis, psychotherapy, EMDR, or variations of energy therapies) may be sufficient. The combination, however, is a powerful treatment modality that can accomplish excellent results in a very short time frame.

Book Section

English

Lillian Gross
Harold Ratner

Gross, L., & Ratner, H. (2002). The use of hypnosis and EMDR combined with energy therapies in the treatment of phobias and dissociative, posttraumatic stress, and eating disorders. In F. P. Gallo (Ed.), Energy psychology in psychotherapy: A comprehensive sourcebook (1st ed.) (pp. 219-231). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company