The differences between IEMT therapy and other talk therapies? Part 1
As an IEMT trainer, I’m often asked by many people interested in learning IEMT: "Mickey, what is the difference between working with IEMT and traditional therapeutic approaches like CBT, psychotherapy, coaching, etc.?"
When I sat down to write the article about these differences, I encountered a challenging problem. It’s possible to find particular differences between the work of an IEMT therapist and any other therapeutic method. However, these differences are not categorical but rather specific to each comparison. For instance, the differences between IEMT and CBT would differ from those between IEMT and SE (Somatic Experiencing) or dynamic psychotherapy, etc.
This led me to search for a broader view and find categories to create comparisons and distinctions, so this article was born. It opened my mind and expanded my awareness and understanding of my therapeutic approach.
Opening the mind and expanding our therapeutic approach
There are several categories that, by becoming familiar with them, allow us to:
- Get to know the differences between IEMT and other approaches,
- Think about why we might want to add IEMT to our therapeutic toolbox.
Several important considerations:
- Expanding the way we think about how we treat in the clinic.
- Identifying our dominant therapeutic approach.
- Exploring and getting to know other therapeutic approaches.
- Broadening our therapeutic range.
So, I wrote this article, touching on comparison and distinction categories to expand our understanding.
Categories of comparison and distinction between therapeutic approaches:
These are not the only categories but provide a good starting point.
Therapeutic focus
What is the focus area of the therapist? Is the focus on changing behavioural patterns or understanding the past? Is it on symptoms or the root cause of the problem, more cognitive work, or work with the unconscious, etc.? – What is your typical focus in your work?
Treatment duration
What is the average length of the therapeutic process? Is it a laser-focused process, short-term or long-term? Is it pre-defined with a certain number of sessions, or is there no set number? – Different methods are based on different approaches, and different therapists have different views on the duration of therapy. What is your approach?
Structure of the therapy
To what extent does the therapy operate according to a predefined structure, or is it more open, spontaneous, and undefined? Our various personality traits often dictate which therapeutic structure we resonate with more. – What is your personal preference as a therapist regarding structure?
Theoretical basis
What are the psychological theories that underpin the therapeutic approach? Here, too, different personality traits of the therapist will draw us to approaches that resonate with us more. Some therapists will rely on a single specific psychological theory, while others will have a more eclectic approach, relying on several different theories. – What is your preference? Specialising in a single theory, a central theory with a few offshoots, multiple competing theories, or a broad eclecticism?
Intervention techniques
The therapist uses specific methods and tools in their clinical work to help the client progress, from talk therapy alone to bodywork, from bilateral stimulation to particular protocols. – What is your preference? For example, talk therapy only, bodywork, meditation, homework, etc., or a combination?
Self-systemic focus
Where is the focus of the work? Is it looking at the self and working solely with the self, or a more systemic view of external relationships and connections? – Where is your focus? Where is the focus of your therapeutic process?
Field of therapeutic work
In what field or domain does the therapy focus - bodywork, emotions, cognition, the unconscious? Different methods focus on different fields of work. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and every therapist has their preferred field. – What is your preferred field of therapeutic work? Is there more than one?
Role of the therapist
What is the role of the therapist in the process? What is the level of the therapist’s involvement in the process? It can range from being a source of inspiration to being an enabler, from creating possibilities to being directive, from being a diagnostician and discoverer to being responsible for change. Different approaches define different therapist roles, and each therapist connects to a particular role based on a combination of their personality and the method they first learned or the one that made the strongest impression on them. – What role do you connect with the most? What flows naturally for you in the clinic?
Time focus
What time frame is the method most focused on: past, present, future, or timeless? Some approaches focus on working through past releases, some on making changes in the present, and others aim at future results. – What is your time focus as a therapist? And why that particular time focus?
I am sure there are additional categories, but I believe these points are enough to expand:
- Our awareness,
- Our understanding of the available options,
- Our therapeutic range.
Personally, I believe in broadening the therapeutic range as much as possible because it allows us to tailor our process to our clients' needs, the nature of their problems and challenges, and what will help them most.
As Abraham Maslow once said: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” – but that’s a topic for another email 😀
In conclusion
I hope this article expanded your awareness and gave you additional value, that you learned new things about yourself or remembered things you had forgotten, that I piqued your curiosity enough to want to know the differences between the IEMT method and other methods, and how adding IEMT to your therapeutic toolbox can help you broaden your therapeutic range and provide the best service possible to your clients.
In Part 2, we’ll dive into the uniqueness of IEMT in each category.
Mickey Berkal
IEMT Trainer from Israel