The old saying is that if it looks like a duck and it talks like a duck, perhaps it really is a duck! That's where we are with EBT right now, coming to clarity about what this method is and how it fits into self-care and healthcare. Could it be self-therapy? Let's do the comparison.
THERAPISTS: Shoot for resiliency and neural integration (Brain State 1).
EBT: DITTO
THERAPISTS: Offer external prompts to guide us to get to Brain State 1.
EBT: DITTO
THERAPISTS: Provide a warm loving presence so emotional change is deeper.
EBT: DITTO
It's a bit of a stretch to say that an app is a therapist. However, the brain easily interprets the warm vocal tone you use with yourself as you read the prompts as a loving other.
For at least a decade my colleagues have said that EBT is self-therapy, but I was never willing to say that. It could walk and talk like a duck, but not BE a duck.
A therapist in our pocket
Then I began using the new Brain Based Health by EBT app. The first time was the morning it appeared live on the App Store, about two weeks ago. Like a little kid waiting for Santa Claus, I had awakened early and checked the app store. There it was!
Quickly, I downloaded it and found my way to a new tool, The Be Positive Cycle.
In my sleepiness, I was casually paging through the prompts. They did their job and guided me along my brain's resiliency pathway. Then, one minute after opening the app, as a total surprise, this very complicated, unreasonable expectation floated up into my conscious mind.
It just APPEARED. It was effortless. WOW, I hadn't known THAT was stored in my unconscious mind. Now an old relationship made perfect sense. A troubling situation from my childhood became comforting, a way to know myself better.
Such privacy and control
I haven't shared this really fascinating expectation with anyone. What I like about the app is that it's always there for me, completely private. I can reach for the app and instead of having a therapist in my pocket, I have one in my hand. It helps me be a better therapist for myself.
That morning when I turned on the light and used the app to guide me along my natural brain pathway from stress to joy, I said to myself, "I think this really is a duck."
Our "just launched" Brain Based Health app makes the method comfortable to use so that you can put it aside in low-stress times and reach for it when more challenging times arise.
It is the new self-therapy, and the timing is perfect. We all need a therapist in our pocket these days, and now we can have one!