The Difference Between IEMT Therapy and Classical Therapies – Part 2
After we’ve gotten acquainted with the categories of distinction between various therapy methods in Part 1 (link), we can now delve into the uniqueness of the IEMT modality.
I found that distinguishing IEMT from all other therapy methods, one by one, is a crazy project. Many therapy methods share overlapping points, and we’d have to create a table for each method; I’d never finish.
So, after reading the first article and getting to know the categories of comparison and distinction between different therapy methods (and identifying your approach) we can now go through each category and dive into the uniqueness of IEMT, particularly as I teach it, with my specific emphases. Because when we look at each therapy method and its teachers, we see that every teacher brings their own personality, values, approach, and unique teaching qualities to the method. I’m no different from other teachers in this, especially since I bring almost 30 years of experience and various trainings in my background.
IEMT Method Across Different Categories According to Mickey Berkal's Approach:
These are not the only categories, but they certainly provide a good starting point.
Therapeutic Focus:
Classic IEMT focuses primarily on emotional work and identity work.
- On the one hand, the therapy focuses on reducing the emotional intensity of past events (Emotional Imprints), whether they are traumatic events or other significant emotional experiences. Reducing the intensity and emotional pain of charged memories allows access to the memories, processing them, learning from them, and thereby releasing emotional burdens.
- On the other hand, it focuses on working with negative identities that a person lives out of (Identity Imprints), identities that cause a person to act in ways that are not always in their best interest.
There are several other areas of focus, such as internal relationships, emotional bodywork, PTSD, and more.
IEMT According to Mickey Berkal’s Approach:
My approach also focuses on a few additional areas, such as external relationships, conflict work, and values and needs work.
- External Relationships: Our clients' healing, change, and growth processes affect and are affected by their external relationships. In my work, we bring a systemic perspective to the client's problems as they manifest in their external relationships and the mutual influence of these relationships on the client's issues and processes.
- Conflict Work: The foundation is the understanding that conflict is not a quarrel but an opportunity for growth—whether internal or external (involving two or more people). Based on this understanding, healing, change, and learning processes are tailored to the needs and conflicts that arise.
- Values and Needs Work: As part of the philosophy I’ve been developing over the past 4 years, "The person as a self-sufficient system of their emotional and psychological needs," I’ve developed several internal maturation processes. These processes allow our clients to release their dependence on others and develop a strong emotional and personal centre, a strong sense of coherence, and self-efficacy, enabling them to rebuild their relationships as healthier and more supportive ones. (From Mature Individuality to Healthy Collectivism)
Duration of Therapy:
IEMT is known for its efficiency and effectiveness. Like most eye movement methods (EM) or bilateral stimulation-based therapies, IEMT can significantly reduce the emotional pain connected to memories of traumatic events, allowing the client to finish processing those memories and free themselves from the difficulties that arise from emotionally charged memories. This can often be achieved in a relatively short process.
In terms of the length of each session or the number of sessions, it depends on the therapist’s choice based on their experience, personality, and business model.
- Some therapists aim for laser-focused therapy—one-time sessions of several hours.
- Some aim for a few short sessions.
- Some do not define the number of sessions upfront and work according to the client's needs.
Whether or not there is a pre-defined number of sessions, IEMT processes are considered short-term, with the typical number of sessions being in the single digits (usually depending on the patient's history). Thanks to the method's effectiveness, it’s possible to release multiple triggers, traumatic memories, and even negative identities, sometimes even in just one session.
The difference usually lies in the IEMT therapist’s skill level, their experience and whether they work only with IEMT or incorporate other methods and tools.
Therapy Structure:
The IEMT method, at least as I teach it, is based on various intervention protocols. These are highly structured protocols; however, the therapy process depends on the therapist’s discernment and noticing skills. Therefore, we can say that the therapy is semi-structured, semi-non-directive, and tailored to the client’s needs, requests, and what comes up in the session.
A client typically comes with a problem, which is usually a symptom of something deeper. Based on clues the therapist notices in the client's content, structured questioning protocols are used to uncover the root of the problem, whether it is an Emotional Imprint, Identity Imprint, Relational Imprint, or Behavioural Imprint (the last two arise from Berkal’s work). We then perform intervention and change processes accordingly.
Once the root of the problem is processed and changed, the impact of the change is assessed.
Theoretical Basis:
The IEMT method evolved from Steve and Connirae Andreas' Eye Movement Integration method, Francine Shapiro's EMDR, and influences from David Grove's work on studying identity structures through the use of pronouns and metaphors.
The method was developed by Andrew T. Austin, a hypnotherapist and nurse in a neurology ward, who conducted several years of field research working with chronic patients, referred to him by psychologists and psychiatrists. Austin’s goal was to discover the commonalities among chronic patients, leading him to identify the five sabotaging patterns, which today form the foundation of the method. These patterns interfere with and hinder healing and change processes in the clinic.
Mickey Berkal's work has also been influenced by several psychological and philosophical approaches, including those of Martin Buber, Wittgenstein, Clare Graves, Gregory Bateson, Lucas Derks, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Brené Brown, and others.
Intervention Techniques:
The approach to IEMT therapy, according to Berkal, can be divided into three phases: Identification, Inquiring, and Intervention.
These are based on the principle of PaRDeS (Pshat, Remez, Drash, Sod):
- Pshat (Surface/Literal): The client’s words.
- Remez (Hint): Linguistic, verbal, intonational, and behavioural cues that provide entry points for the IEMT therapist.
- Drash (Inquire): Structured questioning protocols that allow us to quickly get to the root of the problem, bringing the traumatic memory, emotional imprint, identity imprint, or other root events into awareness.
- Sod (Secret): Root events, where various change processes (interventions) are applied using the various techniques of IEMT.
In addition to eye movements and bilateral kinesthetic and auditory stimulation, IEMT includes tools for emotional bodywork, psycho-educational work, and tools for conversational change work.
Self-Systemic Focus:
In classic IEMT, the focus is primarily on the individual - their triggers, emotional wounds, and maladaptive identities.
In Berkal's approach to IEMT, there is also a broader systemic view, looking at the client within their relationships: how these relationships affect them and how they affect those relationships, working through and on these dynamics as well.
Therapeutic Field:
While the method’s name is Integral Eye Movement Therapy, the work extends beyond just eye movement techniques.
The foundation of the work is identifying and dismantling the 5 Patterns of Chronicity (which are self-sabotaging behaviour patterns), while simultaneously releasing emotional imprints and other imprints using various tools as stated above.
The work spans three expanding circles:
- Emotional work (Classic model)
- Identity work (Classic model)
- Relationship work (Berkal’s approach model)
This creates both remedial change work and generative change.
Role of the Therapist:
The therapist's role in the process is identifying the various clues in the client’s communication. Through structured questioning protocols, they uncover the root of the problem and implement different interventions using the various intervention tools of the modality.
The therapist is responsible for creating interventions that bring about internal change in the client, at both the conscious and unconscious levels. This includes working with resistances, maladaptive behaviours, triggers, and more.
The process is more experiential than purely conversational, and clients are actively involved through the therapist's requests and intervention processes.
Pure IEMT is done with almost no content, so the client can be free from “telling their stories.”
Additionally, every therapist can integrate IEMT with their professional background, other training, and additional methods. IEMT integrates wonderfully with any therapeutic method.
Time Focus:
IEMT mainly works on past events, focusing on old and/or acute traumatic events. That said, it also works with the timeframes the client references in their communication (past, present, future), and through cues in the client’s communication, interventions are performed on memories of past events, charged memories, intrusive thoughts, identity schemas, and more.
Once the emotional charge is removed from past memories, it becomes easier for the client to access those memories, learn from them, and create new, healthier generalisations for their lives. When the emotional charge is lifted from identity imprints and they mature, the client’s personal perception of their life, relationships, and problems changes, leading to emotional, identity, and behavioural transformation.
Conclusion:
The IEMT method not only provides us, as therapists, with effective tools for emotional release and identity processing but also facilitates deep, genuine change that touches the core of each client, their relationships, and their emotional world. The approach I bring to this method has been developed from years of experience, integration with other approaches, and attention to the small details that can make a significant difference in the therapeutic process.
If you are looking for new tools to enrich your therapeutic toolbox, grow as a therapist, and create deep and meaningful change for your clients in less time than usual, IEMT might be exactly what you’re looking for.
To fully understand its impact, there’s no better way than to experience it for yourself. I invite you to dive in and discover how you can apply IEMT in your clinic to empower both you and your clients.
Onward and Upward!