EMDR vs ETTTM Question: I do EMDR and TFT, and I wonder if there is any research that has been published on your form of light therapy. I am interested in your approach, but I also want to be able to justify using alternative approaches to clients, insurance companies, and licensure boards. Answer: Yes, there has been substantial research on almost every component of my form of light therapy. However, there has been very little research on my approach in it's entirety. Let me explain further. In comparison with TFT and EMDR, Emotional Transformation Therapy (ETT) is different in that it incorporates a unique combination of techniques within the overall approach. I view TFT and EMDR as techniques. ETT can be seen as a form of psychotherapy that uses several techniques. Generally speaking, scientific research is reductionistic and typically prefers to focus upon the effects of specific components. The componenets of this method have been scientifically documented. However, the ETT approach itself is synergistic, meaning that it is the unique combination and sequence of these components that yields it's greatest impact. An analogy might be if you combined client-centered psychotherapy, gestalt therapy and rational emotive therapy in a unique format, all three forms of psychotherapy have been researched, but this hybrid has not been studied. I seriously doubt that the approach would be questioned on the grounds of lack of scientific research. Furthermore, this "approach" can be used as psychotherapy, which I think is it's most potent form, or simply as an adjunct to assist in relieving the stress component of medical problems or for use in spiritual search. Since I use it as a form of psychotherapy, it is billed to insurance companies simply as individual psychotherapy. Essentially, verbal interactive psychotherapy takes place within ETT. However, specific protocols of light stimulation serve as a powerful catalyst for the process. In fact, one could potentially use any of a variety of forms of psychotherapy of one's choice in conjunction with light therapy. When one uses sound, in the form of music, in conjunction with psychotherpy, it is generally not reported to insurance companies as "music therapy", so logically, light stimulation is not much different. In fact, a case could be made that the lighting in the room during psychotherapy has a bearing on the process and outcome. In that case, we often inadvertently use bad light therapy (such as flourescent lights), so why not learn how to optimize the effects of light as we conduct psychotherapy? The following is a list of the components of Emotional Transformation Therapy (ETT): 1. Psychotherapy - substantial research exists both about specific forms of psychotherapy and counseling, in general, that clearly shows its effectiveness, superiority to psychopharmacology and outcomes over time. 2. Light Therapy - There are over 1,000 research articles published on the general subject of S.A.D. and much of it focuses on the effectiveness of light therapy and the mechanisms by which it works (serotonin activation, circadean rhythms). The relevant research to ETT is that it is now scientifically established that light therapy is effective for a variety of non-seasonal psychological conditions. The light therapy studied combines various wavelengths (color) for its effect. Therefore, it is established that it affects mood change. I have simply discovered ways to extend this principle. 3. Eye Movement - I developed a form of eye movement that is conducted in conjunction with light stimulation. As you may already know, research has been done on EMDR and various types of eye movement that result in emotional change. While this is a significant part of the approach, these techniques are simply components of an overall approach. I focus much on peripheral eye stimulation, the basics of which came from Dr. Schiffer's ideas. 4. Brainwave entrainment/disentrainment - There is substantial research documenting how rhythmic light stimulation elicits specific brainwave patterns. Through this means, this approach allows us to elicit brainwaves optimal for specific counseling purposes. ETT is often seen as an advancement from EEG biofeedback (sometimes known as neurotherapy). If interested, you may contact us for a bibliography of scientific research on these components. During 2001, I have been involved in conducting research on ETT with the collaboration of a neurologist and neuroscientist from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. We used pre and post quantitative EGG measurements as well as heart rate varitability, galvanic skin response and other measurements. The findings have been very intriquing.