Marga Hogenhuis
- May 8, 2023
- 3 min read

Treating trauma traumas with IEMT

Some time ago, I completed my IEMT training and am now an Advanced IEMT Practitioner. IEMT is a wonderful method that can work quickly and effectively in different areas. And recently, I completed the Trauma Trails Masterclass.... Here's what my trainer/therapist Anne ten Brinke says about it:

"Prof Bessel van der Kolk's book 'Trauma Traces' and Nadine Harris' book on 'Invasive childhood experiences and health problems (in later life)' and my own physical trauma traces prompted me to delve deeper into trauma work.

So far, we have worked with IEMT on memories (the mind) and IEMT on emotions. In this IEMTspiration, we work on trauma traces in your body in an advanced plus way. We explore whether we can help the body release old pain, blockages and tension. The old pain that causes health problems later in life."

During this Masterclass, I deployed my own trauma and boy was that a very beautiful, special and healing experience! I can't say it was easy, but I can say it felt very liberating. I myself have few memories about my past and that is quite difficult in some interventions. And I also realised that the body does have a memory because it sometimes gets triggered on the strangest things. This particular exercise makes use of that very thing. The memory stored in your body. And releasing it and healing it that way.

In the weeks that followed, I still felt very vulnerable and soft but also healed and free. By now I have had the opportunity to use the Trauma Tracks exercise several times and here too the results were so beautiful and moving. People came to places they had never been before. Which of course feels very uncomfortable at first. Very carefully and with small steps integrating the new into the now.

What exactly is IEMT?

IEMT is the abbreviation for Integral Eye Movement Therapy. Like EMDR, it works with eye movements. What else are the similarities and differences I cannot explain very well. As a matter of fact, studies are now taking place that want to chart that. The way I explain it to people is that memories and emotions are often linked to a certain image. For example, if you've been in a car accident, you might have the moment, that image, of the pole, the wall, the other car continuously on your retina. The moment you hold that image and make the eye movements, there are a number of scenarios what could happen; you get more distance from the image. So instead of the image being stuck on your nose, you can now look at it from a distance. It could also be that with that distance, you get the feeling that you are observing the image. And if you are observing the image, as an observer you are not fused with the emotions that were linked to the image. What can also happen is that you start experiencing other emotions or the image becomes vague. What happens most afterwards is that people experience calmness, less intense emotions and that the incident has been given a place. Technically speaking, new connections are made in your brain.

What is IEMT suitable for?

The method is often used to neutralise recurring emotions and feelings. But also in treating, for example, anxiety, depression, burn-out or processing of major events. IEMT can also help with personal growth, identity development and overall well-being.

So IEMT is suitable for:

stress reduction,
prevention and treatment of burnout
anxiety,
depression,
trauma treatment,
PTSD (also for complex multiple trauma issues).
And fantastically useful for personal growth.

What do you do during such a session?

Actually, not that much. 'Do I have to rehash everything then?' No, you don't have to. And that is an advantage of this form of eye movement and also the difference with EMDR. During a session, you don't have to talk a lot about the unpleasant event or problem you're facing. You don't even have to tell me what makes you so emotional. Starting from the feeling you are currently suffering from or the theme you bring in, I bring you back to a memory with specific questions, which arises automatically from the unconscious brain. Focusing on this memory, you follow with your eyes the movement my fingers/pen/stick make. Often several associations with this memory follow, eventually leading you to the core. Transforming this core creates healthy boundaries between past and present. After a session, clients often experience more distance from the event/problem and are less or no longer overwhelmed by the emotions that belonged to it. This can give a tremendous sense of liberation.

Do you also want to break old patterns? Do you also want to be free of old limiting beliefs? Do you also want to leave your past behind? Then come along for a talk and be surprised by what it can bring you....