Why OEI Therapy?

You’re probably here because you feel stuck.

You can’t seem to get motivated or stay focused or get basic sh!t done.

You might have even had to quit your job because of what your dealing with.

The intrusive thoughts. The intense feeling flashbacks you feel in your body as if the trauma was happening all over again.

You’re not quite sure what’s going on, but whatever it is, you feel a bit lost. Not quite sure who you are anymore.

You go back and forth between feeling numb, hopeless, low and triggered AF, panic attacks and sometimes super alert, like something bad is about to happen.

You might feel dissociated from your sense of self, your body, your surroundings, you feel kinda empty – just a shell of the vibrant person you used to be.

It feels like you just can’t shake the past, the intrusive thoughts are leading more and more to rumination (waaay overthinking) and starting to affect other parts of your life.

It’s beginning to affect your relationships, work, [insert an important area of your life here].

People don’t seem safe. The world doesn’t seem safe.

You avoid things. You avoid people.

You sometimes have a hard time even getting out of bed and getting dressed.

Maybe you’ve lost your joy and interest in things you used to love.

And things are getting worse, not better.

You’re starting to make bad decisions.

This is because time does not heal all wounds.

Not with trauma.

Healing from trauma is not a passive process.

What is OEI Therapy?

These are the lingering effects of trauma, feeling stuck, triggered, and overwhelmed by persisting memories and emotions from something that happened in the past.

Observed Experiential Integration (OEI) therapy is a trauma-focused approach that uses eye positioning, visual pathways, and bilateral stimulation to integrate brain hemispheres. This process helps reduce anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and emotional distress by allowing individuals to reprocess traumatic experiences and move forward from feeling stuck.

The Science Behind OEI: Eye Movements and Neural Integration

OEI therapy is an evidence-backed approach based in neuroscience that uses visual pathways to integrate both sides of the brain, reducing anxiety and trauma symptoms by processing and resolving traumatic memories.

Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of OEI therapy and hypnotherapy in reducing PTSD symptoms.

Observed Experiential Integration therapy is a holistic approach that has evolved from EMDR therapy. OEI has been used for over a decade, combining elements of psychotherapy, body-based therapies, neurophysiology, and mindfulness practices.

What is Observed Experiential Integration (OEI)?

Observed Experiential Integration (OEI) is a specialized trauma therapy that helps individuals process, resolve, and heal from traumatic experiences. Unlike traditional talk therapy, OEI focuses on integrating the brain and body to address the effects of trauma in the most gentle and effective way, and less re-traumatizing than other therapies such as EMDR or traditional talk therapy.

How does OEI Therapy work?

Observed Experiential Integration therapy uses specific techniques, such as covering or uncovering one eye at a time while tracking movements with the other. This process activates both sides of the brain (hemispheres) and engages the visual pathways to help the brain process traumatic memories that keep you feeling stuck and triggered.

OEI allows individuals to release emotional and physical distress associated with trauma without needing to relive or recount the painful event. Instead they experience a safe, gentle space for healing from the past so they can move forward with the future.

What Can OEI Help With?

OEI has been used to address a wide range of psychological and emotional issues:

• Psychological trauma
• PTSD
• Anxiety
• Phobias
• Depression
• Sexual assault
• Childhood abuse and trauma
• Eating disorders
• Negative self-talk
• Relationship conflicts
• Self-esteem problems
• Compulsions
• Agitated depression
• Body dysmorphia
• Dissociation
• Substance use
• Anything that makes you feel “stuck” or “stirred up” will usually benefit from OEI treatment.

OEI Therapy for Common Symptoms of Trauma

Some of the common symptoms of dissociation are:

• Panic, rage/conflict, anxiety, shame, confusion, or agitated depression
• Headaches, visual distortions, dizziness
• Physical disturbances such as chest compression/hyperventilation, nausea, & throat constriction
• Negative self-talk, shame, and low self-esteem
• Emotional dysregulation and urges to self-harm
• Transference reactions that interfere with therapy (fear, anger, avoidance, distrust)

Key Benefits of OEI Therapy

✅  Reduced Trauma Symptoms: OEI helps resolve PTSD, anxiety, and panic symptoms.

✅  Improved Emotional Regulation: Enhance your ability to manage and regulate intense emotions.

✅  Increased Self-Awareness: Promotes self-awareness, emotional regulation, and integration of fragmented experiences.

✅  Resolution of “Stuck” States: OEI addresses anything that makes you feel ‘stuck’ or ‘stirred up,’ including relationship conflicts and unusual emotional intensity.

✅  Enhanced Cognitive Function: OEI reduces fight, flight, freeze, and numbing responses to enable higher-level brain functioning.

✅  Addresses a range of conditions: Effective in addressing other conditions such as self-esteem problems, compulsions, agitated depression, body dysmorphia, substance use, and conflicts in interpersonal relationships

Additional Benefits of OEI

✅ OEI helps to access awareness regarding human experience

✅OEI helps to resolve physical pains and paresthesias, speech impairments, disturbing (post-traumatic) inner voices, and visual distortions

✅OEI helps to address and resolve shame, guilt, self-loathing

Is OEI Therapy an Evidence-Based Practice?

OEI is an evidence-based practice. Research supports its effectiveness in reducing PTSD symptoms. Studies show that OEI can lead to significantly lower CAPS scores for PTSD compared to control groups.

• OEI has been rated highly for reduction of PTSD symptoms.
• A randomized clinical trial showed that OEI outperformed a delayed treatment control condition for reduction of PTSD symptoms.
• This section addresses the importance of OEI as an evidenced-based practice.

Accelerated OEI offers a gentle yet effective path to recovery, allowing individuals to move past their trauma and reclaim their sense of safety and well-being.

Take the First Step to Gentle, Effective Healing.

Let’s connect.