Sonia Richards
Advanced Practitioner & Trainer
Integral Eye Movement Therapy
Creating change in the blink of an eye

Difference between IEMT & EMDR

"Both models use eye movements but in practice that is where the similarity ends. I often tell participants that IEMT and EMDR are exactly the same in the same way that Freud's 'Psychoanalysis' and Bandler's 'NLP' are exactly the same because they both use words. Of course, for the intelligent observer such flippancy is not really required. EMDR is a model used mainly by licenced medical professionals such as psychologists and psychiatrists. IEMT can be used by anyone trained in the model. Where EMDR is primarily used to treat "trauma", something it is very effective at doing. However IEMT is much more about the Patterns of Chronicity. These are 5 primary patterns that appear common to many chronic patients with, or without a history of trauma."

Andrew T Austin, creator of IEMT

These five patterns are as follows:

  1. Three Stage Abreaction Process

    A pattern of escalating emotional behaviour in order to create change in the external environment.
  2. The Great Big, "What if..." Question

    The use of a single counter-example that sabotages and counteracts any therapeutic generalisation.
  3. The Maybe Man Phenomena

    The Maybe Man is uncertain of his own experience and this leaks out into his language. By
remaining uncertain and without precision he does not commit to his genuine experience or to his identity and thus inadvertently sabotages effective therapy.
  4. Testing for Existence of The Problem Rather Than Testing for Change

    Even though 99% improvement might be made, if the person with chronicity is able to
locate just 1% of the problem existing, this will generally be seen as representative of 100%
of the problem existing.
  5. Being "At Effect" rather than "Being At Cause"

    By being "at effect" the person experiences emotional problems happening to them, rather
than being something that happens by them. A person "at effect" will seek 'treatment' rather
than seeking 'change'.

To summarise the differences: