WHO DEVELOPED
IRT?
IRT was developed by psychologist Harville Hendrix,
Ph.D. and his wife, Helen Hunt during the early 1980's. Dr.
Hendrix wrote the best-selling books, Getting the Love
You Want: A Guide for Couples and Keeping the Love
You Find: A Guide for Singles. Since the 80's
Dr. Hendrix has established the Institute for Imago Relationship
Therapy (IIRT) in Winter Park , Florida , which now
has a faculty of 18 trainers around the world who contribute
to the theory and practice of IRT and to the worldwide training
of imago therapists .
WHO ARE IMAGO THERAPISTS?
Only licensed and credentialed professionals,
who have been through a yearlong training (over 96 hours)
in IRT through the Institute , are qualified to
call themselves Certified Imago Relationship Therapists. After
their training, most imago therapists join the
international Association for Imago Relationship Therapists (AIRT)
where they continue to receive training through national
conferences, regional workshops, newsletters and on-line
dialogue with each other. For additional information
about imago therapy, its worldwide network of therapists
and workshops, other products and training contact:
www.imagotherapy.com
THE "BRAINSPOT"
A “Brainspot” is the eye position which is related to the energetic/emotional activation of a traumatic/emotionally charged issue within the brain. Early studies show it is most likely in the amygdala, a part of the limbic system. Located by eye position, a Brainspot is actually more then one spot. It is a network of activation in the brain.
When a Brainspot is stimulated, the deep brain reflexively signals the therapist that an area of significance has been located. This typically happens out of the client’s conscious awareness. There are a number of reflexive responses, including eye twitches, freezes, blinks, pupil dilation, facial tics, yawns, coughs, head nods, hand signals, foot movement and body shifting. Reflexive facial expressions are powerful indicators of Brainspots.
The appearance of a reflexive response as the client attends to the somatosensory experience of the trauma, emotional or somatic problem is an indication that a Brainspot has been located and activated. The Brainspot can then be accessed and stimulated by holding the client’s eye position while the client is focused on the somatic/sensory experience of the symptom or problem being addressed in the therapy.
The maintenance of that eye position/Brainspot with the attention focused on the body’s “felt sense” of that issue or trauma stimulates a deep integrating and healing process within the brain. This processing appears to take place at a reflexive or cellular level within the nervous system and brings about a de-conditioning of previously conditioned, maladaptive emotional and physiological responses.
Brainspotting appears to stimulate, focus, and activate the body’s inherent capacity to heal itself from trauma.
Any life event which causes significant physical and/or emotional injury and distress, in which the person powerfully experiences being overwhelmed, helpless, or trapped, can become a traumatic experience.
There is growing recognition within the healing professions that experiences of physical and/or emotional injury, acute and chronic pain, serious physical illness, dealing with difficult medical interventions, societal turmoil, environmental disaster, as well as many other problematic life events, will contribute to the development of a substantial reservoir of life trauma. That trauma is held in the body.
In “inside window” Brainspotting the therapist and client participate together to locate Brainspots through the client’s felt sense of the experience of the highest intensity of affect/body distress. Brainspotting can be directed at distress and Brainspotting can be directed at establishing and strengthening resources.
Brainspotting is also very useful to access and develop internal resource states end experiences. These resources allow the client to use his or her internal resources in the session and to learn to strengthen and recall those same resources in daily living
Brainspotting processes down to the reflexive core. The reflexive core is in the deep, unconscious body brain. It is below conscious thought and speech and as out of our awareness as respiration, circulation, and digestion. Brainspotting dismantles the trauma, symptom, somatic distress and dysfunctional beliefs at the reflexive core.
Brainspotting can be enhanced when used with BioLateral Sound CDs. Biolateral sound enhances the brain’s processing abilities by alternately stimulating each cerebral hemisphere. The healing sound directly enters the brain through the auditory nerves while the eardrums are vibrated bilaterally.
In most cases, the traumatized individual does not usually have the opportunity or the support to adequately process and integrate these traumatic life events. The traumatic experience then becomes a part of that individual’s trauma reservoir. The body and the psyche cannot remain unaffected by the physical, energetic and emotional costs extracted by this accumulated trauma load. The medical and psychological literature now acknowledges that approximately 75% of requests for medical care are linked to the actions or consequences of this accumulation of stress and/or trauma upon the systems of the human body.
Brainspotting is a physiological therapeutic tool which can be integrated into a wide range of healing modalities, including psychological as well as somatic approaches to treatment. Brainspotting can be useful as a complement to various body-based therapies including advanced bodywork, chiropractic, acupuncture, somatic therapies, physical therapy, nursing, medicine, and other specialized approaches to physical healing. It is a valuable resource in the treatment of a wide range of medical, physical, and psycho-emotional issues and symptoms encountered by health professionals.
Refer to our Brainspotting Services page for more information, or visit www.brainspotting.pro.
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