The body reflects what the mind suppresses. Many of us dismiss this as a bit woo-woo, but when we push down our emotions without processing them it can lead to many health issues.
Suppression is a psychological defence mechanism that helps the mind manage unwanted thoughts, emotions, and memories but it can have a number of distinct effects on mental health and well-being.
Prolonged emotional repression can contribute to issues such as chronic stress, anxiety, and depression.
Some studies suggest that a number of physical symptoms could be associated with suppression and repression, including:
High blood pressure
Skin conditions
Fatigue
Obesity
Headache
Dizziness
Chronic pain
Emotional suppression is incredibly common, and many of us do it without realising. It can take various forms, such as scrolling, shopping, numbing through substances, overeating, or intense physical activity. These behaviours divert our attention elsewhere, allowing us to avoid facing what’s truly happening inside.
I spent most of my life supressing my emotions, it was taught in the environment I grew up in and normalised. It led to chronic stress and anxiety and inevitably led to illness, in my case autoimmune disease and along with that bouts of depression.
Finding Integral Eye Movement Therapy was a game changer for me and why I use it in my sessions and programmes.
Integral Eye Movement Therapy (IEMT) is a psychotherapeutic modality designed to address intense negative emotional states, facilitate reconnection with the self, and effectively alleviate complex emotional challenges. Developed with the aims of reducing emotional intensity, diminishing self-sabotaging patterns, releasing emotional imprints and addressing Identity Imprints. IEMT offers a comprehensive approach to mental and emotional well-being.
Central to the success of IEMT practice for my clients are the skills of observation, identification, and focused attention on behavioural and linguistic patterns. Using these skills, I am able to give tailored support and treatment protocols to support my clients to navigate their emotional landscapes and empower them to make more aligned decisions and actions in their own lives.
It's a somatic therapy that work by resolving memories of traumatic experience by de-potentiating the emotional component of the experience.
Using the techniques in IEMT, my clients are more able to process their stored and stuck emotions and shift out of fight or flight mode. This allows the nervous system and other bodily systems to come into balance and the body to find space to regulate and heal. The results form IEMT are rapid and effective.
I love guiding my clients through this transformative process because, like myself, many find it to be the most impactful thing they’ve ever done for their health.
Repressed emotions contribute to chronic fight or flight, or a sympathetic dominant nervous system state, leading to nervous system dysregulation. When trying to heal, many focus on lowering the stress in their lives to improve health and happiness. However, what affects our health more than the stress we’re aware of (conscious stress) is the stress we’re not aware of (unconscious stress), which includes our repressed emotions. And from years of my own experience, I can tell you that many of us have a lifetime of repressed emotions lurking right under the surface, contributing to this fight or flight response to life.
The additional work I offer my clients is to allow those emotions to be processed and for the body to find safety and balance. Acknowledging, being seen and allowing our emotional pain to be embraced in a safe environment, rather than pushed down can help us to unlock a lifetime of stress and anxiety.
I use different ways to support the body and mind to process after an IEMT session. Mostly because during IEMT you are moving through a lot. It's a rapid change and can feel exhausting.
Using directed compassion, root cause practice, deep relaxation practices and gentle touch where called, can really help this process of feeling safe and seen. It also allows us to come back to ourselves before diving back into the 'real world'
I use IEMT at the very beginning of my programmes to release negative memories that may be keeping your nervous system in chronic dysregulation but also to work with identity or limiting beliefs that keep you stuck in the same cycles.
My own journey to heath and wholeness is always reflected in the what I offer my clients because I know it works. Nobody needs to hang onto a lifetime of stuckness, change is possible for you and so is a more easeful and joyful life.
If you'd like to know more about what I do click the link below or book a call. Or check our Angela's story in the video. Proof is in the pudding!
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