EMDR and the role of state-change skills

In its simplest form, a state change means being able to utilize a relaxation skill to settle down one’s system. State-change skills can help the EMDR client to become calmer and more settled while still maintaining “dual attention”—i.e., being present while bringing up traumatic disturbance(s). In contrast, and though it may appear like it, the ability to utilize state-change skills does not mean changing states via dissociation. Certainly, one’s ability to dissociate may appear similar to a state-change skill, and is a survival skill, but dissociation keeps us “away from” traumatic material and from integrating the somatic, visual, emotional, and cognitive aspects of it to then heal. [Excerpt]

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Sarah Jenkins

Jenkins, S. (2014, January 3). EMDR and the role of state-change skills. GoodTherapy. Retrieved from http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/emdr-role-of-state-change-skills-0103144 on 1/14/2014