Abstract - The Distancing Technique
The Distancing Technique was initially developed using EMDR targets that had an over-importance of thoughts, the need to control thoughts and the thought-action fusion. It also targeted the misinterpretation of sensation as predictive of future catastrophe.
The goal of this technique is for the client to become a detached observer to his/her thoughts, sensations, images, and/or urges. For example, to understand that the obsession is a thought and not real, to gain distance from the thought, and put it aside.
The anxiety disorders that the Distancing Technique can be applied to include OCD, panic disorders, and phobias. Interweaves, which come from the client’s own words as expressed in the Preparation Phase, are used, when necessary, in the EMDR protocol to process the initial, worst, most recent and current triggers.
In addition, an essential aspect of the Distancing Technique is to understand the different manifestations of OCD among different cultures.
The presentation goes through all phases of EMDR treatment and uses videos to demonstrate the technique as well as a practicum for participants to practice the Distancing Technique.