EMDR, Timeline Therapy, and Age Regression: 3 Ways to Skin the Same Cat
The UK body for medical therapies, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has certified EMDR as a preferred way of treating PTSD and other trauma-based psychological problems. NICE does not recognize that the other two methods exist, yet all three are useful for treating and reconditioning people for traumatic events.
EMDR, developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro, works on the premise that bilateral movement (originally eye movement) allows people to randomly access memories related to traumatic events in an “emotionally safe” process. This random reprocessing of memories allows the subject to re-access positive associations and release negative ones.
It is an almost free association, but more guided than the average psychotherapist would allow, and by re-immersing himself in the event, the client becomes detached and ultimately overcomes the situation, ultimately relieving many of the symptoms.
Timeline therapy, which is a branch of NLP and developed and registered by Tad James, allows clients to reevaluate their lives and plan for the future by using a mentally constructed line (the timeline) which they then travel and make changes. to.
This approach is similar to EMDR in that it is designed to embed more positive memories in the historical worldview of clients. However, that is where the similarity ends, as Timeline therapy allows for a more direct approach to the problem and adds to the process the ability to move into the future to see how changes in the past are reflected in future behavior.
The third approach, hypnotist age regression, is a much more specific and often very effective approach. The client is placed in a hypnotic state and then brought directly back to the traumatic event where he can deal with it objectively and remove the negative emotional impact on his current situation.
Age regression is straightforward and to the point, completely eliminating EMDR’s free association approach and the full duration of Timeline therapy. For many people, treating the problem directly can be beneficial.
Three approaches, but one result.
So what makes EMDR special? Is it more effective than the other two? Does it have a longer history?
EMDR has become the approach of choice, not because it is more effective, but because it has been methodically investigated in a scientific setting by a qualified psychologist and found to be somewhat effective.
The other techniques have not undergone such rigorous testing and therefore do not pick them up. And yet age regression has been shown to be highly effective over the past 50 years of use by the clinical hypnotist, and Timeline therapists can show hundreds of cases of the effectiveness of their preferred approach.
All three are valid approaches, all three work, but not all three are considered the same. Since EMDR is the only one certified by NICE, it will always be the one of choice for the medical profession.
If you need help coping with a traumatic experience, look up all three methods and choose the one that is most comfortable for you. Without a doubt, that will be the one that will work for you.
