What is RI-EMDR? (Parts Work - Going Deeper)

Hey guys,

It's Reuben here.

And so I'm really excited to talk to you about RIEMDR,

Right,

So relational integrative EMDR.

It's a form of EMDR,

Which is eye movement desensitization reprocessing.

And I've got a video on that here on Insight Timer.

But this is about relational integrative EMDR.

So the big idea here is that EMDR is so powerful,

But some trauma is not just one event.

There's lots of layers,

Years of not being seen,

Not being safe,

Maybe never quite feeling enough.

And what relational integrative EMDR does is focus specifically on parts work.

So it was developed by Michelle Bowes and Amy English in 2020.

And I'm trained in this and I've only just kind of come into this having been trained in traditional EMDR,

The standard protocol.

This combines EMDR with attachment work.

So for people that are familiar with attachment theory,

Parts work,

Compassion focused therapy,

Imagery re-scripting.

And what this means is that with all of these approaches,

It pulls in this model that helps us heal,

Helps us to re-structure what happened in the past before,

Where parts of us were abandoned or something happened to them,

Rejected.

These parts of us get frozen in time.

And what happens is that in the present moment,

When somebody says something that's somewhat related or we see something that's somewhat related,

Right?

The part of us that was frozen in time comes to the forefront.

And so what this is about is recognising that we have these parts,

These parts of us that actually disconnect us,

They disconnect us from meaningful connection,

They put us into a mode of protection like fight or flight or shut down or freeze or be irritated or agitated or whatever it might be.

But you know what?

All of these parts are there for our protection.

It's just that they show up in ways that can sometimes not be helpful in the present moment.

So relational integrative EMDR is heavily focused on parts work.

It's phenomenal.

I've also done a video on resource therapy,

Resource therapy,

Which is a parts work therapy.

And so relational integrative is about exactly this.

And from the experience I've had,

It's so,

So powerful to be able to actually speak to people and get to know their parts.

And to to integrate those parts of a person.

That's what this is about,

Integrating these parts so that we can move forward without the activations that block us and get us caught in unhelpful patterns of behaviour.

So I hope this video has been helpful.

I'll see you in the next one.