Antidote to Anxiety: Resourcing in EMDR
One of the best uses of the EMDR Tapper App is to strengthen your ability to soothe your body when you are activated or distressed. In EMDR language, this is referred to as “installing a resource,” which means you are heightening your ability to experience peace as you visualize a calm or peaceful moment while using bilateral stimulation (BLS).
METHOD: If you experience peace at the beach or ocean, you should visualize that scene, recalling the sights, sounds, and smells that deepen your sense of calm, while simultaneously feeling the alternating vibration or bilaterally following the moving ball. After 25 to 30 passes, pause the tappers and notice your body. Notice what you feel. Do you feel a sense of calm in any part of your body? Where do you notice it? Scan your body, noticing if you feel lightness in your chest, or the release of tension in your shoulders. Once more, start the tappers and visualize the scene, noticing again the various aspects of the scene that create soothing. You might notice the sounds of the waves, the smell of salt water, the sun warming your skin, the call of the seagulls, the sounds of laughter, or any other part of the scene that creates peace for you. This time bring to your mind the word that best represents this scene. In this case, it might be “peace” or “waves.” After 25 to 30 passes, again pause the EMDR Tapper App, and notice what you feel in your body. Do you feel a sense of calm anywhere in your body or a general sense of peace throughout your body? Notice where and what you feel. Notice if your distress level has decreased.
TESTING THE RESULT: Would you like to test whether you have installed the resource? Think of a mildly distressing moment, something that creates a level of distress of perhaps 3 out of 10. What creates distress for each of us is subjective, based on our priorities, but it might be a minor argument with a friend or getting a poor grade on a quiz. Notice if you feel your heart rate increase slightly or a feeling of mild tightness or tension in your chest. When you feel mildly distressed, say the key word, visualize the beach, and notice if your body begins to calm or soothe. If you need, you can again visualize the beach, say the word, and use the bilateral stimulation.
AN EXAMPLE FROM A SESSION: (The following example is no guarantee of similar results.) As an EMDR therapist, I use this method daily to help clients build a resource to calm their bodies before, during, or after a session. I prefer that clients have the opportunity to lower their distress or anxiety before they leave my office, so I take a few minutes at the end of each session and practice this method. Last week, I had a particularly beautiful experience with a couple that illustrates the power of using a resource. During the session, the couple was processing an aspect of betrayal that was very painful. (I often use EMDR with couples and have found it to be very helpful to facilitate healing in the relationship and reducing distress between both partners.) We had to stop our work for the day because of time, and both the husband and wife were at a high level of distress. As usual, I begin to use this method to help them increase their feelings of calm and peace. The resource they chose was the beach, and so we begin to notice the sights, sounds, and smells of the beach using bilateral stimulation. We paused the processing and they noticed their bodies. They were at a calmer state but still feeling distress in their bodies at the level of 5 and 6. We switched the resource to a scene of them praying as a couple. As we finished the processing, the couple said this was a powerful resource for them and both were at a much lower state of distress.
PRACTICAL USES: Next time you are distressed, try using this method to lower your anxiety or decrease your distress.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: If you need additional information on this method, please refer to Dr. Francine Shapiro’s book entitled Getting Past Your Past.
