What is RITMO ? (related to the EMDR)

theprocesshk
Dec 20, 2024
4 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

What are the goals of EMDR therapy or RITMO therapy ?

THE PROCESS HK - Émilie Lefèvre, psychotherapist. Hong Kong Mental health support, trauma-informed therapist. RITMO therapy, EMDR therapy : Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is highly accessible in Hong Kong. It is widely used by clinical psychologists and therapists across the city to treat trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and phobias. EMDR Therapy process, eyes movement desensitization reprocessing, French and english speaking trauma-informed therapist in Hong Kong, Hong Kong psychologists and psychiatrist

RITMO (Reprocessing of Traumatic Information by Eye Movements) is a technique related to the EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) combined with hypnosis.

Inspired by the work of Francine SHAPIRO, psychologist, American behavioral therapist and founder of EMDR therapy, Lili RUGGIERI is at the origin of the French technique of RITMO.

Unlike other treatments that focus on directly altering the emotions, thoughts and responses resulting from traumatic experiences, EMDR and RITMO therapies focus directly on the memory, and is intended to change the way that the memory is stored in the brain, thus reducing and eliminating the problematic symptoms.

It incorporates eye movements, auditory and tactile stimulation to treat emotional trauma by releasing negative emotions associated with memories. Focusing on the connections between past experiences and present emotions, it promotes emotional resilience.

RITMO can also be used in the context of addictions, psychosomatic or psychological disorders, emotional blockages, traumas ...

When to choose EFT over RITMO therapy ? Read more.

Who is this eye movement technique for ?

RITMO is for anyone (children, teenagers, adults) suffering from trauma (physical and moral aggression, sexual abuse, attacks, accidents, natural disasters, wars...) or painful events (separation, bereavement, loss of employment, professional difficulties...), depression, addiction, eating disorders, panic attacks, phobias, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)...

Who Is RITMO not suitable for?

While RITMO is a powerful therapeutic approach, it may not be the best fit for everyone. Individuals who have certain conditions or circumstances may not be suitable candidates for RITMO therapy. Some of these include:

Severe Psychiatric Conditions: RITMO may not be suitable for individuals with severe psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, as they require specialized treatment and support.
Substance Abuse Issues: Those currently struggling with substance abuse may not be ideal candidates for RITMO until they have addressed their addiction issues. In such cases, it is essential to focus on addiction recovery first.
Limited Emotional Regulation: If an individual has difficulty managing intense emotions or dissociates frequently, RITMO may not be appropriate until they develop better emotional regulation skills.
Recent Traumatic Experiences: RITMO may not be advisable for those who have experienced recent traumatic events, as it is essential to establish stability before delving into trauma-focused therapy.

How does a Trauma Therapy Session work ?

THE PROCESS HK, Émilie Lefèvre, trauma-informed therapist. RITMO therapy session, EMDR therapy session, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured, eight-phase psychotherapy approach designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. It helps the brain process these memories so that they no longer trigger overwhelming emotional and physical reactions.The eight phases are divided into specific steps to guide treatment:Phase 1: History Taking and Treatment PlanningWhat happens: The therapist reviews your background, identifies specific traumatic events, and develops a customized treatment plan.Focus: Pinpointing the most distressing "target" memories and current triggers.Phase 2: PreparationWhat happens: The therapist introduces you to the EMDR process and ensures you feel safe and comfortable.Focus: Building a strong therapeutic alliance and learning emotional regulation, grounding, and "resourcing" techniques to manage distress. Phase 3: AssessmentWhat happens: You focus on a specific target memory and identify associated negative beliefs (e.g., "I am powerless"), a desired positive belief, and related physical sensations.Focus: Rating the memory’s disturbance level using the SUDS (Subjective Units of Disturbance) scale.Phase 4: DesensitizationWhat happens: While holding the traumatic memory in mind, you engage in bilateral stimulation (usually guided eye movements, but sometimes tapping or audio cues).Focus: Processing the memory to reduce its emotional charge, allowing natural healing to occur.Phase 5: InstallationWhat happens: Bilateral stimulation continues, but this time you focus on connecting the positive belief identified in Phase 3 to the neutralized memory.Focus: Strengthening empowering thoughts to replace the previous negative beliefs. Phase 6: Body ScanWhat happens: You think of the memory alongside the newly installed positive belief and scan your body for any residual tension or physical distress.Focus: Clearing any remaining bodily tension related to the trauma.Phase 7: ClosureWhat happens: The session wraps up. The therapist helps you re-establish emotional stability and ensure you leave feeling grounded.Focus: Reminding you to use coping skills between sessions and reassuring you that processing continues even after you leave.Phase 8: ReevaluationWhat happens: At the start of the next session, you and your therapist evaluate your current progress.Focus: Checking if the positive results from previous reprocessing have been sustained and determining if another target memory needs to be addressed — **The 8 phases of a trauma-informed therapy session**

History-taking and Treatment Planning

In addition to getting a full history and conducting appropriate assessment, the therapist and client work together to identify targets for treatment. Targets include past memories, current triggers and future goals.

Preparation (RITMO related to EMDR)

The therapist offers an explanation for the treatment, and introduces the client to the procedures, practicing the eye movement and/or other BLS components. The therapist ensures that the client has adequate resources for affect management, leading the client through the Safe/Calm Place exercise.

Assessment

After a first exchange to gather information about the trauma involved (preparatory interview), I evaluate the emotional impact on a scale of 0 to 10, which allows me to measure the effectiveness of the technique as the session progresses.

Validity of cognition scale and list of cognitions EMDR. In Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, the Validity of Cognition (VOC) scale is a 1-to-7 self-report measurement used to gauge how strongly a patient believes in a desired positive self-statement. It acts as a "Positive Belief Strength Tester" during memory reprocessing.The VOC ScaleDuring the assessment and installation phases, the therapist asks the patient to pair the traumatic memory with a chosen positive cognition and rate it on this scale:1: Completely false / Totally unbelievable2: Mostly false3: Slightly true4: Neutral / Neither true nor false5: Mostly true6: True7: Completely true / Totally believable

Then, I submit a sensory stimulation (visual, auditory and kinesthetic/ felt) on both sides of the body: it is to alternate either eye movements, from right to left and left to right, (making you follow with the gaze a finger, a pen...) either by sound stimuli in each ear, or tapping on your knees (“taping”).

Between each stimulation, I exchange with you about your perceptions, emotions and sensations related to this event.

Desensitization

During this phase, the client focuses on the memory, while engaging in eye movements or other BLS. Then the client reports whatever new thoughts have emerged. The therapist determines the focus of each set of BLS using standardized procedures. Usually the associated material becomes the focus of the next set of brief BLS. This process continues until the client reports that the memory is no longer distressing.

By separating emotional feelings, the perception of trauma is transformed.

This stimulation allows to restructure the traumatic information at the level of the cortex and no longer at the level of the limbic brain, seat of emotions: the areas of the brain are activated until the complete «digestion» (full recovery) of the trauma.

This bilateral stimulation of the brain, this «recoding» created by eye movements, allows to reconfigure the memory processing circuits and decrease the emotions associated with the memory trauma.

Installation

The fifth phase of RITMO is installation, which strengthens the preferred positive cognition.

Body Scan

The sixth phase of RITMO is the body scan, in which clients are asked to observe their physical response while thinking of the incident and the positive cognition, and identify any residual somatic distress. If the client reports any disturbance, standardized procedures involving the BLS are used to process it.

Closure

Closure is used to end the session. If the targeted memory was not fully processed in the session, specific instructions and techniques are used to provide containment and ensure safety until the next session.

Re-evaluation

The next session starts with phase eight, re-evaluation, during which the therapist evaluates the client's current psychological state, whether treatment effects have maintained, what memories may have emerged since the last session, and works with the client to identify targets for the current session.