Coaching report on guided self-coaching of a non-diseased spider phobia with EMDR and the EMDR goggles REMSTIM 3000.

When Heike (name changed) came to me, she was afraid of spiders. She said she has now reached 41 years with her spider fear and doesn’t really believe she can overcome her fear of these nasty 8-legged monsters. But her two sons were now 10 and 7 years old and teased her about their reaction to spiders. She lived with her family in the countryside and insects were part of everyday life. Certainly, she was aware that there are no really dangerous spiders in Germany; except for a few species of spiders recently immigrated from the south, the old-native arachnids probably could not even penetrate human skin with their biting tools. But her knowledge of the spiders didn’t really help much with her fear and the emotional reaction that came with it.

Disgust and fear rose in her at the mere sight of a small spider. Her stomach cramped, and in her throat she almost always perceived a slight gag reflex. At the same time, goose bumps often covered almost her entire body.

Heike had signed up for a 1:1 intensive workshop with me. Because she thought it would be a good idea not only to get rid of her spider fear but at the same time to learn how to coach herself with EMDR to be able to help herself with other issues as well.

Already in the preliminary conversation on the phone, I had gained the impression through specific questions that Heike’s fear was most likely not of a pathological nature. Because neither

• saw its own ability to act significantly restricted
• nor did it dominate everyday life and
• her own emotional world was not permanently burdened either.

If this had been the case, there would have been signs of a serious anxiety disorder that might have required therapeutic treatment.

Also her reaction was

• not unreasonably strong in relation to the trigger
• did not occur without reason
• and could also be explained on a reasonable basis

Also, the last 3 items indicated that their fear was a state of non-diseased fear.

The 1:1 Intensive Workshop begins

Heike now sat vor me in a comfortable chair and familiarized herself with the EMDR glasses REMSTIM 3000 under my guidance. This was extremely fast, as the operation of two buttons was quickly explained.

I clarified to Heike the possible side effects of EMDR coaching and informed her again that this was a coaching, especially a self-coaching, in whose sessions in no case diseases or other ailments are cured or alleviated. The mere attempt to treat illness must be excluded in coaching and self-coaching with EMDR. Diseases can only be treated in the context of therapy in the presence of a trained therapist. In case of doubt I would also like to offer her such an EMDR therapy at another time, today we were together for a (self)coaching workshop.(Important information)

Heike was clear about this and also my repeated questions confirmed that Heike’s fear was not pathological.

So then we started with the self-coaching session as part of the 1:1 workshop where I would guide them for 3 hours to do that.

The 1st step: determine the topic

“Heike, we start with the first step. Now please put the glasses aside, preferably on the small table next to you. Now please imagine the worst situation in terms of your spider fear,” I asked Heike.

Heike leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. “Should I think of a specific situation or imagine a fictional one,” Heike asked.

“If you can think of a concrete situation, take it. If a fictitious one already floats before your eyes, take it. In the end, it doesn’t matter what your memory offers you. Your brain can’t distinguish between reality and fiction in its imagination anyway,” I replied.

“Okay, I have an image in my mind of opening the mirrored cabinet above the sink in the bathroom in the morning to take out my toothbrush and toothpaste. And there’s a big black spider sitting there with long legs,” she says, as her chest begins to visibly expand with a deep breath. Heike is already reacting while an image is obviously forming in your head and you are saying the words.

The 2nd step: determine the emotions

“Heike, your image seems good, you are already responding. We come to the 2nd step: which emotion best describes the feeling you are experiencing?”, I immediately ask.

Heike swallows and says, “I’d say it’s disgust and fear.”

“Okay,” I continue, “If you were to try to rank the level of your current emotional distress on a scale of -10 to +10, which number best describes it?

-10 is the most violent stress you can imagine, 0 is a neutral inner calm, and +10 shows that you couldn’t be better. So, what number on the scale do you spontaneously choose. There is no right or wrong.”

“Mh, ok, I would say a -4. Yes, a -4 describes it best,” Heike guesses and nods.

The 3rd step: determine the body sensations

“Ok, now for the 3rd step: stay with your image with the black spider, perceive your disgust and fear and now feel into your body. Is there any body sensation?”, I ask Heike.

“Yes, I feel discomfort in my stomach, and my throat is tightening. I’m having a harder time breathing. My heart is beating faster.”

The 4th step: EMDR intervention with the REMSTIM 3000

I say, “Now the 4th step: stay with it and put on the glasses now. Take your image, your emotions and pay attention to your body sensations. Do you have everything?”

“It’s difficult to bring everything together. But okay, I’ve got it,” says Heike.

“Good, now start the glasses with the left button as I showed you. Stay seated and continue breathing calmly while you follow the point of light,” I ask Heike.

Heike finds the button and presses it, now also placing her left hand on the armrest. She sits quietly and breathes, and I notice the usual but barely noticeable horizontal back-and-forth movement of her head that most new users of the glasses perform, allowing the observer to mimic the eye movements being made.

After about 20 seconds, I say, “When the yellow light appears, take a deep breath while following the 3 lights with your gaze upwards. Once the light goes out, exhale deeply and let go internally. Keep your glasses on!” So it remains dark for them.

I hear Heike’s deep exhale. She now sits still and unmoving with her glasses.

I ask after a short pause, “What now?”

Heike takes a breath and replies: “Somehow the spider has become smaller, it is still sitting in front of me in the cupboard. But my breathing is calmer. I now have a lump in my throat and a weak but still sinking feeling in my stomach.”

“Go ahead with that and start the glasses again,” I prompt her.

Heike does it and sits there quietly. Her chest rises and falls slowly in a fort. I see that Heike’s facial expression changes slightly. After 30 seconds, the stimulation of the EMDR goggles ends and Heike exhales deeply. Again she pauses with her glasses on.

“And what now?”, I ask again after a while.

“The spider is now sitting outside on the window sill, my neck feels scratchy. There is a warm pleasant feeling in my stomach now,” Heike explains.

“Ok, stick to scratching your throat and press the button on the glasses!”, I say.

Heike performs her third set with the REMSTIM 3000. After a short time, she exhales deeply again.

I leave Heike undisturbed for a while, then I ask, “And now; what now?”

Heike says nothing. She remains sitting quietly with her glasses on her nose. After a while I see a smirk around her mouth. Then she says, “It’s quiet, very quiet in my head. No more scratching in my throat. My stomach is relaxed.” She falls silent.

I ask, “And the spider?”

Heike laughs: “She’s gone. I don’t see her anymore!”

“Is that a good thing?”, I ask.

“It doesn’t matter!” replies Heike.

“Heike, take off your glasses, please!”

Heike does it and blinks at me a little.

The 5th step: Process residual sensations

“Let’s now do the 5th step: Now imagine a spider again and feel into your body again. Do you still find unpleasant physical residual sensations somewhere?”, I ask.

“That’s difficult, I can’t really picture a spider right now. The picture remains blurred. Besides, I’m quite tired,” whereupon Heike yawns. “But my body is calm; I don’t feel anything negative,” she adds.

The 6th step: Anchoring to the conclusion

I nod and say, “Okay, now to finish up with Step 6: Suppose I asked you to formulate the first positive thought about your spider theme that comes to mind, what would it be? Try it, on the spur of the moment!”

Heike hesitates, looks at me questioningly. I remain silent and look back promptly.

Then she says, “Any wasp is more dangerous than our spiders here, and I find them annoying at best. Spiders are even supposed to be useful, I once heard!” She smirks.

“Good,” I say, “Now put on the glasses again. Think about your sentence, especially the part about spiders even being useful, and start the glasses!”

Afterwards, Heike takes off her glasses and asks me, “And that’s it now? Am I not afraid of spiders anymore?”

I answer, “You’ll find out soon enough. But I assume that you will. Because as you just experienced, your emotional and physical reaction to a spider has changed a lot, if not even dissolved”.

I ask Heike for her assessment: “If you now try to classify the degree of your emotional stress on a scale from -10 to +10, which number describes it best?

“0,” Heike replies.

I explain to her: “Tonight there may still be a so-called post-trial. Remnants of your memories are reprocessed and integrated in the brain while you sleep. Tomorrow your perception of spiders will surely have changed again; I assume: positively. Just be vigilant and observe!

This EMDR self-coaching process with the EMDR goggles REMSTIM 3000 you can do yourself from now on at any time. Just follow the directions as you take a moment for your particular topic”

“That was really easy. I guess I could have done the self-coaching without your help and only with the guidance, right?” asks Heike.

I nod: “That is correct! For this, I developed the self-coaching method and the EMDR goggles REMSTIM 3000.”

Heike replies, “Oh, it was all right like that. I’d rather be briefed on this kind of thing. This gives me a good and safe feeling. But now what do we do with the rest of the time of our 1:1 workshop.”

I laugh: “Well, what do you think? We’ll take your next topic, whose emotional reaction you could gladly do without. I’ve never seen anyone who couldn’t immediately think of 2 or 3 topics. What do you think?”

“Sure, I can think of something right away!” replies Heike.

Heike later reported that she had really overcome her fear of spiders. She said that although she still does not want to pet spiders (a slight aversion remained), she was spared her old emotional and especially physical fear reactions at the sight of a spider.

Concluding remarks

It is important for me to mention here that the 6 EMDR self-coaching steps are different from the original EMDR protocol. The self-coaching process is shorter and deliberately omits certain points because they proved not to be mandatory in self-coaching and, on the other hand, even often overtaxed the self-user. Experience shows that this does not usually worsen the outcome of EMDR self-application in coaching. On the contrary, the deliberately simple instructions enable many self-users in particular to carry out EMDR self-coaching smoothly with good results.

The experience report above is abbreviated, more than 3 EMDR interventions were performed in the 4th step with the EMDR glasses until the positive and ultimately best possible result occurred.

Also, every self-user reacts differently.

Sincerely,

Your Thomas Buhl