Breaking impulse-control disorders: A new theory and protocol for compulsions

The Feeling-State Theory of Impulse-Control Disorders postulates that Impulse-Control Disorders such as pathological gambling, sexual addiction, and compulsive shopping are created when intense positive feelings become linked with specific behaviors. The effect of this linkage is that the person compulsively reenacts the behavior related to that original positive-feeling event. The therapy described in this presentation is the Impulse-Control Disorder Protocol (ICDP), which uses a modified form of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) to address these fixations. Three case studies wiill be used to illustrate the theory and the application of ICDP.

Conference

English

Robert Miller

Miller, R. (2011, August). Breaking impulse-control disorders: A new theory and protocol for compulsions. Presentation at 16th EMDR International Association Conference, Orange County, CA