Dissociation is a process of emotional distancing often experienced by people undergoing a traumatic experience. It is also commonly experienced by clients during an abreaction to the trauma. This is distinct from Dissociative disorders, a much more serious condition characterised by splitting of the personality into parts - Structural Dissociation.
Read MoreIn the course of a therapeutic hour an EMDR therapist may make dozens of decisions from what to target to the appropriateness of the cognitions, the kind of BLS to use, the possibility of needing to take action to avoid client overwhelm and dissociation, and many others. The quality of the therapist’s decision making is crucial in two respects: first and foremost, the well-being of the client depends on it; as far as the therapist is concerned poor decision making may cause serious reputational and financial damage. Which brings me to the real issue that I’ve never seen mentioned in EMDR circles – the reality of decision fatigue as recently highlighted by some unusual research published in the Royal Society Open Finance.
Read MoreAfter a lifetime of ups and downs he was committed to hospital under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act. He is Horatio Clare, the bestselling author of numerous books. His essays and reviews appear on BBC radio and in the Financial Times, the Observer and the Spectator. His latest book, Heavy Light – A Journey through Madness, Mania & Healing – is now available; it’s a truly extraordinary account by one of the most brilliant travel writers of our day, of a different sort of travel - one through complete breakdown and severe mental illness.
Read MoreVideo conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams made remote working possible as COVID-19 spread. All sort of work including therapy, supervision and training/education that took place in person moved online. This move to online working has had several consequences, which we explore in the following piece.
Read MoreAs reported in the Economist[i], a century of research has shown that unemployment is bad for mental health. Anxiety, depression and lower self-esteem are common afflictions connected with being out of work. But how much work is necessary for good mental health? Not very much according to new research carried out at Cambridge University[ii].
Read MoreWe want to increase our capacity to serve the EMDR community by producing more videos to enhance clinical practice.
Read MoreWe are a ‘not for profit’ social enterprise company, but to continue investing in new videos we need to increase our standard monthly subscription fee from £5 to £5.99 per month on October 1 2020, but the good news is…
Read MoreA recent Jiscmail thread on the speed of eye movements in processing set a hare chasing in my brain and stimulated me to do some research. I thought our readers might be interested in my reflections as a springboard to their own thoughts rather than as a definitive treatise on the subject.
The thread began with a very interesting question from Dr Ruth Armstong ‘Does anyone know of any studies into the use of slow vs fast BLS or into the number used per set?
Read MoreDonna Jackson Nakazawa is a science journalist whose niche spans neuroscience, immunology, and human emotion. She tells of how she recovered from several autoimmune diseases, one after the other, and of the breakthroughs in understanding of the relationship between brain and body, and in particular the connection between inflammation in the body and illness in the brain.
Read MoreAccording to the Times (27/11/2019), a one off shot of Ketamine, an anaesthetic and also an illegal party drug, could help heavy drinkers cut their alcohol consumption, a study suggests.
Read MoreThere is increased recognition that the billions of apparently non-pathogenic bacteria in our bodies are actually important for our health. In the case of ASD, the absence of some of these bacteria may explain the cause of this condition and this recognition may also lead to its effective treatment.
Read MoreIn the Economist March 16th there appeared an article about the use of a drug based on Ketamine to treat ‘treatment-resistant’ depression, defined as not responding adequately to at least two previous antidepressants.
Read MoreAccording to an account in the Times newspaper on March 21st, anaesthetics may not only dull physical pain, but may also help reduce mental anguish associated with traumatic memories.
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