Computer-Aided Emotional
Restructuring (CAER)
for Aspergers Syndrome
CAER treatment is quite successful at extinguishing anxiety, depression and anger for aspergers syndrome children.
CAER
treatment evolved from Eye Movement Desensitization
and
Reprocessing(EMD/R).
[
1989a, 1989b). EMD/R is a powerful, and increasingly popular, new
psychotherapeutic technique. It's purpose is to extinguish the negative
affect associated with problematic emotions and behaviors, so that the
person can feel and respond more appropriately to situations he or she
deems as problematic. Yoga literature has long included eye movement
patterns for relaxation and concentration
(Headstrom, 1991). EMD/R is described by Shapiro (1989a,)
as follows:
“Subjects... were
instructed to visualize the traumatic scene, rehearse the negative
statement (e.g., ‘I am helpless’), and follow the investigator’s index
finger with their eyes. The investigator then caused subjects to
generate a series of 10-20 voluntary, rhythmic eye movements by moving her
index finger rapidly back and forth across their line of vision. The
finger was located 12-14 inches from the face and was moved from the
extreme right to the extreme left at a rate of two back-and-forth sweeps
per second.”
Since 1989, hundreds of case studies of successful using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing have been reported (, 1989a, 1989b; Marquis, 1991; Wolpe & Abrams, 1991; Puk, 1991).
Marquis (1991) notes:
“The range of problems treated successfully is astonishingly broad: depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety disturbing dreams resulting from childhood sexual abuse, intrusive images and thoughts, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, traumatic memories concerning the Vietnam War, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, sleep disturbances, low self-esteem, headaches, learning disabilities, and relationship problems.”
CAER is Born
Dr. Mary Weathers and I began to use EMD/R with our patients in 1991. We were pleased with the results. However, the effectiveness seemed to be limited by our physical ability to continually sweep our fingers back and forth in front of the patient eyes. That spurred me to develop an automated means of timing the patient’s eye movement.
It used moving lights rather than moving fingers to guide patient’s eye movement. This was a great improvement because a therapist can reliably and repeatedly only do about 30 sweeps before his arm tires. Thirty sweeps just begins to generate the therapeutic effect.
Continue -Computer-Aided
Emotional Restructuring
First Sentence: With terror in my heart, I can still remember sitting in emotional and almost physical pain at Palm Elementary School in Beaumont, California.
Read the first page
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 6
