How Full-Field Eye Movements Heal Trauma: The MEMI Method for Faster Recovery & Lasting Change | ANEW Ep 128

What turns a promising modality into a true game-changer? In Part 2, Dr. Supatra Tovar and trauma psychologist Dr. H Haugen (Dr. H) go deeper into Multichannel Eye Movement Integration (MEMI)—how Dr. H discovered it, why she now trains clinicians to use it, and what makes results feel more durable than exposure-heavy approaches. You’ll hear how MEMI engages the entire visual field to disrupt stuck recall loops, why clients don’t have to retell their story, and the exact safety tools (anchoring, therapeutic dissociation, physical grounding, client control at every step) that keep sessions tolerable—even for those who previously turned around in the parking lot.

We unpack the origin story (book → training → consultation), current research momentum (case studies underway; growing clinician interest), and use cases spanning “big-T” and “small-t” trauma—combat, grief, childhood adversity, relationship ruptures, anxiety, and depression. Dr. H shares striking clinical outcomes, explains how progress is measured across sensory channels (sight, sound, body, emotion) with simple 0–4 scales, and clarifies what happens after the target resolves: rebuilding routines, confidence, relationships, and identity so life expands again.

What you’ll learn

• Why MEMI can feel safer and faster than EMDR/PE/CPT when verbal exposure isn’t tolerated
• How full-field eye movements may be the missing piece for clients who stalled on EMDR
• The three safety pillars: anchoring, therapeutic dissociation, and physical grounding
• How to track completion with sensory distress scaling and client-led satisfaction checks
• Why MEMI opens doors for “problem states” beyond formal PTSD diagnoses
• The pathway for clinicians: book → on-demand training → consultation → real-world outcomes
  
  
  

Action steps

• If you’re a clinician, identify one client for a sensory-first target (no story retell).
• If you’re a survivor, try an externalization drill: “cast” the image on a wall to create distance, then do a 90-second longer-exhale breath reset.
• Save Dr. H’s contact to explore training or referrals: drhinyourpocket@gmail.com and the MEMI training hub at eyemovementintegration.com.

About the Guest, Dr. H Gear, here are her social media links https://multichanneleyemovementintegration.com/maria-gear-haugen/,   https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-maria-g-1a379b46/
Learn more about trauma recovery, mind-body healing, and psychology at ANEW Insight.

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Transcript

0:00 dr--maria-gear-haugen_2_10-01-2025_142618: 0:01

Well, I had been doing trauma work for many years, uh, primarily at the VA. And, uh, used really the traditional, uh, approaches that we use for trauma, cognitive processing therapy, CBT, different kinds of exposure therapies. And while, uh, certainly some people had success with them over time, I was finding that, uh, it wasn't durable. It is a frightening thought to, to be facing some of your most horrific experiences in your life. so that. That not reaching people really started to, I started to think there's gotta be other approaches. And so I started investigating and I looked into a number. I actually got training in several of them, but they still didn't seem to me to be as effective as I was hoping to find. And I came across, uh, MEMI. And I read the book, there's a book, uh, written in 2021. So this was a pretty new, um, therapy. And, uh, I read the book and I did the training right away and I started using it right away. And I was just astounded. Astounded how quickly, how profoundly people changed. I, I ethically always offer people every option that I'm, I'm trained in for anyone who's I'm working with.

dr--supatra-tovar_2_10-01-2025_112618: 0:03

Oh, that's amazing. NLP unfortunately wasn't very well documented, and so it's not very well known these days, but he integrated what he knew about EMDR, eye movement, EMI actually, um, techniques and integrated this over a period of time and wrote it up in a book at one of his, uh, of the urgings of a client who was very enthusiastic about it. And so I, uh. Quickly read it. Uh, I did the training. If you go to eye movement integration.com, which is where I went, there is training available on there through a webinar. It's, it's, uh, about a 12 hour webinar. You can do it at your leisure, and that's what I did. Um, because at that point the only, uh, trainers were in other parts of the world. Um, this is new to the United States and I'm proud to be the first psychologist offering training in it. But that's how I did my training. And then there's hours of consultation that are necessary that I did with Mike, to get me started. NLP unfortunately wasn't very well documented, and so it's not very well known these days, but he integrated what he knew about EMDR, eye movement, EMI actually, um, techniques and integrated this over a period of time and wrote it up in a book at one of his, uh, of the urgings of a client who was very enthusiastic about it. And so I, uh. Quickly read it. Uh, I did the training. If you go to eye movement integration.com, which is where I went, there is training available on there through a webinar. It's, it's, uh, about a 12 hour webinar. You can do it at your leisure, and that's what I did. Um, because at that point the only, uh, trainers were in other parts of the world. Um, this is new to the United States and I'm proud to be the first psychologist offering training in it. But that's how I did my training. And then there's hours of consultation that are necessary that I did with Mike, to get me started.

dr--maria-gear-haugen_2_10-01-2025_142618: 0:06

You know, I don't think there's a difference in terms of the type of trauma. The people that I've traditionally worked with tend to be people with, um, chronic, complex trauma histories, so maybe a lot of childhood trauma, adulthood trauma, physical combat, sexual abuse, neglect. I really haven't found a difference with MEMI in terms of what I can work on. The difference that I do see with MEMI is that it opens the door to work on small T trauma. You know, we've all had events in our life that are heartbreaking and, uh, disruptive and, uh, harming to us, but may not necessarily reach the threshold of PTSD. So people may be, you know, getting treatment for depression or anxiety or just, you know, not being able to function well in relationships.

dr--supatra-tovar_2_10-01-2025_112618: 0:07

Absolutely. I'm also curious about, uh, how validated research might support this. Is there, uh, are there studies that you can point us to or tell us about, um, that help to support MEMI's effectiveness? Oh, absolutely. And I think that that would be the next logical step. I'm sure that because of, you know, its growing popularity and people becoming trained in this, that there are a lot of, uh, transformational stories. That you've heard of and that you've witnessed yourself. Can you share, of course, client details, uh, you know, changed for their, uh, confidentiality.

dr--maria-gear-haugen_2_10-01-2025_142618: 0:09

it, it's amazing, uh, that they're excited about it as well as, uh, me being excited about it, but Sure. Um. I'll, I'll talk about a couple people because I, I, I, I think they're in some ways good examples of folks who, who need our help to move forward in their lives. he said, I, I have nowhere else to go. He accepted a referral to our clinic. And so, uh, he's one of those people who I think is common. You, you get a relationship with your provider and you don't wanna go out to another provider to get help, but because most trauma treatments require a, a lot of intensive training generalists, really, normally aren't, uh, certified to provide that training, which is a benefit of MEMI, by the way. Um, but anyway, I worked with him. He was someone who was very perseverative in his thoughts about what he went through in Afghanistan. He was in a desperate situation in, uh, a part of Afghanistan that had not been supported. so, and then he also had, he had a second trauma. He had his older brother, uh, died by suicide while he was over in Afghanistan. And that really haunted him. He didn't want to, he elected not to tell me any of the details before he started, so I didn't know. Um, he was very engaged. He was very willing, he was One of the things I really like and is very different about MEMI is that to start out with, we always ask people if they're willing to change. Are you willing to fully accept and change anything, you know, change these things and, and the, the way that this event has impacted your life? You know, that's a, a, an affirmative in a buy-in that we want from them at the beginning and then at the end, one of the criteria to know if we're completed is, are you satisfied with what we did today? I don't know of another therapy that does that. I think it's a little scary to ask because we're afraid of the answer, but, uh, are you satisfied with this? And you feel like you can manage this now? And so to me, those are really important and very direct, me, ways to measure, are we done? And so we get to that point when someone, you know, their, their, their score zero to four go down all sensory aspects of the event and they feel like they can manage it and they really feel like, yeah, it's not bothering me anymore. Um, and I think those are really significant elements of MEMI that are empowering to people. One of the things I really like and is very different about MEMI is that to start out with, we always ask people if they're willing to change. Are you willing to fully accept and change anything, you know, change these things and, and the, the way that this event has impacted your life? You know, that's a, a, an affirmative in a buy-in that we want from them at the beginning and then at the end, one of the criteria to know if we're completed is, are you satisfied with what we did today? I don't know of another therapy that does that. I think it's a little scary to ask because we're afraid of the answer, but, uh, are you satisfied with this? And you feel like you can manage this now? And so to me, those are really important and very direct, me, ways to measure, are we done? And so we get to that point when someone, you know, their, their, their score zero to four go down all sensory aspects of the event and they feel like they can manage it and they really feel like, yeah, it's not bothering me anymore. Um, and I think those are really significant elements of MEMI that are empowering to people.

dr--supatra-tovar_2_10-01-2025_112618: 0:15

Absolutely, uh, from a therapist side, I'm curious how you feel, normally we set up a relationship and have a longer term, you know, course of treatment with clients. And that to me is something that's so incredibly rewarding is, you know, to have that relationship and to see the arc of, you know, what we're doing together and then have the symptoms resolve and, you know, eventual termination. I, I often have clients who just kind of continue and they use it as self-care. Are, are clients coming to you just for one to two sessions and then done, do they wish to continue just to have therapy and to have, you know, a, a therapeutic presence in their lives?

dr--maria-gear-haugen_2_10-01-2025_142618: 0:16

Well, when you think about symptoms of PTSD, you know, obviously there are a set of criteria, um, that are part of that pattern of symptoms with something like trauma, the impact on people's lives is much more pervasive in parts that really have nothing to do with the diagnosis. And so often people find that they want to make sure that they feel like they can go out again, for example, but they're still a little apprehensive about meeting new people, maybe if they want a relationship or, and so it becomes kind of practical. How do you support all those other parts of their life that have kind of fallen apart because of the impacts of this trauma in their life? It's rebuilding all of those things around it to really have them get back to living a full life. And so I think that's, that's kind of a natural thing. The trauma itself is changed in the brain, but that doesn't mean all of the parts of your life that have fallen away because of the trauma and the symptoms are automatically back. You don't become sociable just because you want to or you don't feel afraid of it anymore. So, you know, that's really, you know, a lot of coaching, a lot of, uh, insight building, understanding about themselves and their relationship rebuilding and an identity in some cases. And so there is that, um, you know, but to, to have someone move functionally from I'm afraid to go outta my house. In some cases, I'm afraid to go outta my closet, uh, to, oh, I can go shopping, I can go attend a concert. I can talk to my friends, or go to a family, get together. That's the huge jump that people make with MEMI, and then it's, you know, I find a lot of support in addition to that is helpful. It can also be that someone comes not even knowing the impacts of trauma. They may be depressed, may be so anxious that they can't function very well at work or in a relationship or with their kids' school. So, you know, you may start out with a depression focus or an anxiety focus, or even a confidence focus. And then at some point it's like, oh. Do you think my parents divorce that I never really processed could be impacting me? Right? And Well, uh, I can, I, I referred to, uh, this first person I'm working with, she actually did attend the APA conference and she told me afterwards, uh, since we've been meeting, she said, you know, I walked out of there and I thought, this could be a game changer for my practice if, if what she's saying is true. And so, like me, she read the book and she did the training and now she's in consultation and she keeps telling me, uh, I met with her just earlier this week, uh, telling me about some poignant realizations that people have when they've completed MEMI. Um, their change in perspective. You know, we don't focus on the thoughts. But the thoughts change because there's an organic change in the brain, and, and that's what she was referring to. Uh, it's very powerful. As I said, she's someone who's been doing EMDR for I think since the beginning. And so, uh, for her to, uh, find it be as powerful as it is, is really encouraging. Yeah.

dr--supatra-tovar_2_10-01-2025_112618: 0:20

Yes, it, it maybe is, does point to, uh, the more linear aspect of EMDR and how MEMI uses the entire visual field. And maybe that might be the missing piece in EMDR because EMDR can be very effective, but

dr--maria-gear-haugen_2_10-01-2025_142618: 0:21

Well, I really think this could be bigger than EMDR because of the things that I've already talked about. It just makes trauma treatment so much more accessible

dr--supatra-tovar_2_10-01-2025_112618: 0:22

You're welcome.

dr--maria-gear-haugen_2_10-01-2025_142618: 0:23

So we know that people who have trauma, um, tend disconnected. Uh, if someone's had a trauma that involves their body, especially sexual trauma, but it could be any kind of trauma, a motor vehicle accident, a natural disaster, people tend to cut off from their body. They're, they don't understand, they're not connected, they don't really feel a lot in their body. Um, and they don't trust it. They don't trust other people. They don't trust themselves. Um, and so safety is a, a true, um. Hypervigilance is a symptom of PTSD, that's, I'm looking around, I'm checking people out. I'm looking at that backpack over there. When I sit in a restaurant, I'm sitting with the exit in my view, that's because part of trauma makes us hypersensitive to safety concerns. And, uh, I think that's why we have several techniques during, uh, a MEMI session to help people feel safe. So one way we do that is through, um, people who are familiar with EMDR know about, this anchoring that we use, but we do it a little bit differently. And uh, so that's one technique. I'm happy to take you through it if you like. So we know that people who have trauma, um, tend disconnected. Uh, if someone's had a trauma that involves their body, especially sexual trauma, but it could be any kind of trauma, a motor vehicle accident, a natural disaster, people tend to cut off from their body. They're, they don't understand, they're not connected, they don't really feel a lot in their body. Um, and they don't trust it. They don't trust other people. They don't trust themselves. Um, and so safety is a, a true, um. Hypervigilance is a symptom of PTSD, that's, I'm looking around, I'm checking people out. I'm looking at that backpack over there. When I sit in a restaurant, I'm sitting with the exit in my view, that's because part of trauma makes us hypersensitive to safety concerns. And, uh, I think that's why we have several techniques during, uh, a MEMI session to help people feel safe. So one way we do that is through, um, people who are familiar with EMDR know about, this anchoring that we use, but we do it a little bit differently. And uh, so that's one technique. I'm happy to take you through it if you like. But let me just mention the other techniques. Uh, the other is something called therapeutic dissociation. So when someone is triggered in a, from a traumatic situation and they're triggered, the past is brought up to the present like that, it's like a hips in the face. They're right back there. They, you know, they're just taken back there without any volition involved. And, uh, often people also dissociate so they space out, you know, that something comes into their mind or something reminds 'em of something, they just kind of go somewhere else, which is a safety mechanism, involuntary and not very, um. People don't like it. Who would like to not be present, uh, with yourself, but that's very common with trauma. And so therapeutic dissociation is a way to help someone disassociate, separate, not be associated with a trauma. And we do that. I told you before about we're casting that event up on the wall. So that's a spatial separation that we're helping them understand and they have control over that. I often will tell people, if you need to push that 10 feet away, if you need to push that a mile away, you can do that in order to stay engaged with that memory while we're doing the eye movements. And it also reminds them I'll, I'll often say when I anchor, so you're, whatever the anchor word is, you're strong. And this is us here now. That's back then. Right? So we're helping them in a therapeutic way and a way in which they have control over this event in their mind putting it way back there. But let me just mention the other techniques. Uh, the other is something called therapeutic dissociation. So when someone is triggered in a, from a traumatic situation and they're triggered, the past is brought up to the present like that, it's like a hips in the face. They're right back there. They, you know, they're just taken back there without any volition involved. And, uh, often people also dissociate so they space out, you know, that something comes into their mind or something reminds 'em of something, they just kind of go somewhere else, which is a safety mechanism, involuntary and not very, um. People don't like it. Who would like to not be present, uh, with yourself, but that's very common with trauma. And so therapeutic dissociation is a way to help someone disassociate, separate, not be associated with a trauma. And we do that. I told you before about we're casting that event up on the wall. So that's a spatial separation that we're helping them understand and they have control over that. I often will tell people, if you need to push that 10 feet away, if you need to push that a mile away, you can do that in order to stay engaged with that memory while we're doing the eye movements. And it also reminds them I'll, I'll often say when I anchor, so you're, whatever the anchor word is, you're strong. And this is us here now. That's back then. Right? So we're helping them in a therapeutic way and a way in which they have control over this event in their mind putting it way back there. I have a lot of trauma clients, uh, clients with trauma. Yes. I've had, it's just uncanny how many people would say that just out of the blue, God, I wish I could put you in my pocket. So I thought, okay, we'll do Dr. H in your pocket. And so it's Dr. H in your pocket@gmail.com. Uh, I also have, uh, a presence on the, uh, multi-channel eye movement integration.com website. And so there's information about me on that, and you can, uh, click on that and it will come to me. Uh, I'm still working on a website and, uh, YouTube channel, but that's to come as well under the same name. Dr. H in your pocket.

dr--supatra-tovar_2_10-01-2025_112618: 0:29

I've done it. I will pull you out whenever I need to just smile and, and feel better about my life. Thank you so much for agreeing to be on this podcast. I think we've learned so much, and I do think that this is such an important and innovative treatment. And I know I'm gonna be looking into this more, and I really hope everyone else out there takes a look at this training because it really is something else. If we can resolve our trauma in one session, can you imagine what else we could do with our lives? Oh my goodness. So thank you so much for joining me, Dr.