What Is It?

 

Radical Accountability Theory is what I've been practicing for the past six years, a theory of my own creation with theoretical ideas taken from EMDR, Differentiation, and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). EMDR is based on a process named bilateral stimulation, activating the left and right hemispheres of the brain in an alternating and repetitive pattern, that allows the brain to heal itself. We don't technically know why this process works, we just know that it does. My assumption is that as the two hemispheres of the brain are mostly disconnected from one another, engaging in a process that purposefully connects them allows new and powerful connections to form. Differentiation is a theory on emotional maturity and how taking total accountability for our reactions, irregardless of other's actions, leads to emotional maturity. You can read more on that here. REBT theorizes that no event has inherent meaning, but it's our belief systems that dictate our interpretation of events as good or bad. If we can change our belief, we change our reaction, even to the same stimulus. The combination of these theories is RAT, that taking total accountability for our reactions by working through our maladaptive beliefs with bilateral stimulation allows a person to heal.

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How Does It Work?

 

No problem can be addressed before it's consciously recognized. You can't change a flat tire if you refuse to acknowledge that your tire is flat. Differentiation is the baseline theory that advocates for personal accountability as a means to create change. As in the words of Carl Rogers, a famous therapist who is best known for Rogerian Therapy (unconditional positive regard), "the curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change." You can't fix what ain't broke so the first step is to admit that you are in control of yourself and any reaction you have that is negative is under your control to change if you so choose. This doesn't mean that you pretend that things don't bother you or take responsibility for other's reactions, it means that you admit to the things do bother you so that you can get to a place where they truly don't bother you. Accountability and awareness are prerequisites to any worthwhile change.

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REBT is about changing negative assumptions, specifically the negative assumptions you hold about yourself or the world at large. If you believe that you aren't smart, you will most likely experience distress when in a situation that affirms your belief about yourself. True happiness comes from recognizing these negative assumptions aren't true. Not being smart in one area of life, say being good at math, doesn't define whether or not you are intelligent in other areas of life or overall. Negative beliefs of this type result in projection, assuming that the world sees you the way that you see yourself or will respond to you in the way that you would respond to others. Your own self-judgment is also your own self-condemnation, and the judgment you fear from others. REBT aims to free you from unwarranted and untrue beliefs about yourself that are facilitating and enabling your distress by replacing them with positive, more healthy beliefs.

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Bilateral stimulation, as explained before, allows the brain to process information in a different way than it typically does. The idea was derived in part from the theory behind why dreams occur. The prevailing theory is that dreams are the brains attempt to heal itself through metaphor and we dream the most in the fourth stage of sleep called Rapid Eye-Movement (REM) sleep when the eyes move back and forth rapidly, a stage of sleep which occurs several times a night. If the body does this organically, the assumption is that it's for a good reason. Bilateral stimulation is mimicking REM sleep to force the brain to process through the things that for whatever reason it's been unable to process on it's own. 

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What Does A Session Look Like?

 

In any given session we will identify a problem area in your life, something you want to change, identify a belief that is fueling it, then use bilateral stimulation to change your belief. Identifying beliefs is never an exact process but my experience using this method has made me pretty effective in identifying beliefs at their deepest level. Once a negative belief is worked through, we replace it with a positive belief, whatever you would rather believe other than the negative belief, typically its opposite. Once done, we move on to the next belief.

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Most of this process is done internally. If I could reach into your brain and heal you, I would, but I don't have that ability so you need to do your own healing. My job is assisting you in that process and making it as effective and easy as possible. As the ultimate goal is to help you feel confident in healing yourself, the sessions reflect that goal. In this process much of the time in the session will be spent in silence as you attempt to work through whatever you need to heal from with frequent check ins from me to make sure that the process is working. The more comfortable and confident you become with this method, the more silence in the session as you no longer need me to guide you in your own healing. All sessions are adaptable and we can do anything from talking the entire time to allowing you to work through your beliefs on your own for the entire session. Homework will be given to help you develop self-efficacy as well as to get you better as quickly as possible!

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What Results Have People Had?

Most of the reviews on my site have been from this method of healing so that should give you a general idea of its impact. Some people experience incredibly fast and deep healing from the start while others tend to take more time in their healing. I've seen people feel completely differently about themselves in as little as 5 minutes, but that is the rare end of efficacy. The more self work a person has done, the faster this process typically is. Generally, people have profound, lasting results from this method, but it doesn't work for everyone.

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