How EMDR Flash Technique Decreases Anxiety, Depression and Overeating

The therapeutic technique of EMDR is my favorite technique to use as I have found it helps my clients reduce their emotional pain quicker than other methods.  I learned recently of a new development in EMDR called The Flash Technique that often quickens the recovery process.

To use the Flash Technique the therapist asks the client to rate how disturbing the problem is using a SUDS scale of 1 to 10, where a 1 is not distressing at all and a 10 is the most distressing possible. Numbers in between 1 and 10 show increasing levels of distress. The therapist asks the client to put that problem out of her mind, then to concentrate on a memory or activity or song that makes the person feel happy. The therapist instructs the client to tap her legs or arms alternatively, while thinking of the happy memory, then asks the client to blink her eyes 3 times when the therapist says Flash. This is repeated 5 times.  The therapist asks the client to briefly rate the original problem again on a scale of 1 to 10. This sequence may be repeated 2 to 5 times. By then, the original problem is most often felt to be much less disturbing.

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Sugar-Pleasure or Poison?

 

This blog post is for people who want to motivate themselves to stop overeating and eat healthier.

Sugar brings pleasure.  When does sugar become “a poison?”  It all depends on the amount of sugar eaten, if a person is “sugar sensitive” (sometimes addicted to sugar) and the kinds of sugar eaten. In the 1700’s the average American intake of sugar was 1 teaspoon a day. Today the average American intake of sugar is 22 teaspoons of sugar a day.

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Reducing overeating using EFT

EFT is one of my favorite techniques that speeds up clearing or reducing negative emotional intensity. It uses tapping of the fingers on acupuncture points while having the person tune into specific issues using a protocol simple enough anyone can learn.  While it can be used as a self-help technique on one’s own, it is by far most effective to use with the help of an experienced EFT practitioner.

I have known about EFT since the mid 90’s but did not start to use it until about 7 years ago. I became friends with a social worker named Annette Richards. She was enthusiastic about how well EFT had helped her, her clients and her friends.  I have worked on some of my own issues at an EFT workshop and one on one with Annette. Each time I worked with her using EFT, it resulted in improved emotions and perceptions.

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Time Debt, Trauma, Trying Too Hard and Ambition

One of the most common after effects of any kind of trauma is becoming so busy one does not have time to process one’s emotions or feel the emotional pain.

Do you find yourself frequently striving to achieve the impossible?

These photos are of my dog Pebbles jumping to catch a squirrel about 20 feet above her (looking down at her smugly). I wonder why my dog will jump 20 times to reach an animal that is clearly out of her reach.  I also wonder why people  try so hard to make relationships work where they are being mistreated by their spouse, work long hours to experience a sense of  achievement that keeps escaping them, and try to do more than their time allows.

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Fascinating research on overeating, using mice

For years I wondered why people, including myself, were unable to say “no” to certain foods. A book titled The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program by Kathleen DesMaisons provides some answers to this question. DesMaisons has a degree in Addictive Nutrition, which uses nutrition to heal addiction.

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