Loving eyes: Procedures to therapeutically reverse dissociative processes while preserving emotional safety

Dual attention (simultaneous awareness of both the disturbing material and a neutral or safe aspect of the present situation) is an essential element of the effectiveness of EMDR (Shapiro, 2001). That is, in EMDR therapy, the therapist assists the client in keeping "one foot in the present, one foot in the past." Metaphorically, "two feet in the past" would simply be emotionally reliving the trauma, and not therapeutic. For those clients with highly dissociated and intense affect, there is a danger with standard EMDR that uncontrolled emotion may intrude into consciousness in a way that undermines this important balance between present and past. In this chapter, several methods are described that seem to be useful in empowering clients with dissociated ego states to stay oriented to the present while processing unfinished disturbing memories. Specifically, these EMDR variations seem to enable the client to maintain the balance between emotional safety and the controlled emergence of unresolved affect, so as to avoid dissociative abreaction and make possible the healing and eventual integration of separate parts of the self.

Book Section

English

Jim Knipe

Knipe J. (2008). Loving eyes: Procedures to therapeutically reverse dissociative processes while preserving emotional safety. In C. Forgash and M. Copeley, (Eds.), Healing the heart of trauma and dissociation with EMDR and ego state therapy (pp. 181-225). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co