Rapid Eye Technology (RET) is a remarkably powerful healing modality that quickly relieves individuals of distorted beliefs and disturbing emotions trapped in the neural pathways of the brain. These emotions and belief systems maintain negative perceptions and behavior patterns and greatly interfere with the process of moving forward in life. RET utilizes the body’s most effective tool for stress release: the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) phase that occurs naturally in sleep. In REM sleep—with eyes blinking or twitching and moving rapidly under the eyelids—we access the mind’s ‘files’ and process, integrate and clear the events of the day, which generally enables us to awaken with a fresh outlook in the morning.
RET uses eye movements to simulate the REM state of sleep with an eye-catching device moving in neural-linguistic patterns in front of the person’s eyes. This is performed within the context of a therapeutic session, as emotionally charged situations and behavior patterns are being brought up and explored. The fast movement and patterns that mimic REM support the mind and body in accessing relevant memory and discharging emotions. By moving the wand in various patterns and following the client’s eyes, the therapist is able to find the sources of stress. As the person blinks, the limbic system is activated and old and dysfunctional information (emotion energy) stored in the body’s auric layers is accessed and released.
As infants and children, our reasoning capacity is not yet developed and so much of what is experienced is stressful and traumatic. The body is programmed to store trauma if there is lacking the capacity to process it. Thus, all childhood traumas get stuffed and trapped in the body as emotionally charged energy blockages. As survival mechanism, we then form distorted beliefs about the self and the world, and develop unconscious defense and behavior patterns to compensate and guard against access into these places of trapped emotions. Whenever a distorted belief or uncomfortable feeling is activated, the associated traumatic memory is triggered, and all the confused emotional impressions of the past return to us in the present. The subconscious mind makes no judgment between what is real and what is imagined, and so we react in the present to the traumas of the past with the old childish defenses and self-limiting behaviors. Our strong emotional reaction produces a negative impact in our reality, further reinforcing the distorted perceptions of the child, and the destructive behavior patterns become even more deeply entrenched. By the time we reach adulthood, we have so many distorted beliefs supporting so many dysfunctional behaviors that our freedom of thought, feeling and action is greatly impaired. For most people, these layers of distortions are spiritually, emotionally and often physically crippling.
RET helps to quickly process through these layers by cutting through the trapped energy. As emotions are elicited, the eye movements begin and the client enters the alpha brainwave state of REM (deep relaxation). No talk therapy—just deep access and quick release. The wand movements get the right brain (intuitive, beyond time/space, sees wholeness, spirit-filled) ‘talking’ to the left brain (logical, time-bound, sees details, linear) at mind speed, so that the ego does not have a chance to interfere with the process. In this state the conscious mind recognizes, for example, that what kept the five-year-old alive is no longer useful and counterproductive to the adult, and it simply makes the decision to let it go. The client, fully conscious, releases as much and as deeply as willing.
Emotions have their own unique somatics; for example, grief will make the eyelids very heavy, whereas resentment will make the eyes dry. Guilt will build up in the upper back and low self-esteem will produce pressure in the forehead. By cuing into these body somatics, the therapist is able to guide the client to cell memory and deeper release. Healing occurs at the level of DNA, affecting not only the client, but also those on their hereditary path (ancestry and progeny). The beauty of this method is that once the emotional impact around an issue is deactivated, the client reaches a state of peace wherein greater clarity and a higher understanding of past events may enter, and the steps to self-acceptance and self-reclamation can naturally follow. Clients report a greater sense of peace overall and greater insight and clarity in their daily lives. Over time, physical symptoms lessen and life circumstances shift.
This modality is used within the larger framework of emotional alchemy, or even more profound results toward seeing life anew.
How difficult or painful?
If you are wondering whether therapy might be too painful, consider this: it takes vast amounts of energy to maintain negative patterns that only serve to keep the pain alive. Over time, the pain will physicalize, as it has nowhere else to go. When we process through our traumas we are done with them—the energy we used to create crisis and pain is then freed up to create our dreams. It is far more painful to struggle with repetitive, dysfunctional patterns than it is to face our fears. In fact, facing the fear and pain is in itself a healing experience, as it connects us to an inner source of strength. The energies held within the fear activate the healing and propel us to grow.
We all have excellent survival systems designed to protect us, and so our psyche will only allow us to release old trapped trauma as fast as we are able to assimilate the changes. Most people release trauma in layers and the process at any given point is rarely overwhelming. As well, it is not necessary to relive every traumatic event in order to release the attendant stress. When processing along a neural pathway, all like trauma can be let go at once. It is not about understanding every trick of the lower ego and dwelling in its illusions and misery. Trauma is released and light is quickly assimilated in its place. And from a state of inner peace, it is easy to forgive and love and open to further growth.
Excerpted from an Article published in Heaven & Earth, Autumn 2003.
Anita Briggs is a Doctor of C.O.R.E. Education and Rapid Eye Technology practitioner, trained in Energy Psychology, Biological Decoding (Medicina Sagrada), and Acupuncture. She works with addictions, anxiety, depression, grief, self-esteem, relationship issues, children issues, etc.