Dyadic Resourcing – An Advanced Approach to EMDR Resourcing

Some people seem to handle emotionally challenging situations or life crisis better than others. One way to explain this difference is to understand how well resourced a person is. To be resourced means to be able to access positive internal qualities, such as self-soothing capacities, self-acceptance, self-worth, and an internalized sense of connection to positive people in one’s life. An especially important resource is that of an internalized adult nurturing figure.

If a person grows up hearing positive and nurturing messages and feeling loved, supported, and cared for by healthy caregivers, that person will typically internalize these qualities. When they face a life challenge, those positive messages and feelings will be available for strength, self-soothing, and self-support.

On the other hand, if someone did not receive this type of love, care, and support it will be more of a struggle to access these internal resources. External substances and/or behaviors (i.e., alcohol, drugs, compulsive shopping or sexual behavior) may become a substitute, albeit with negative consequences. Dyadic Resourcing, developed by Dr. Philip Manfield, is a complex resourcing process that can help a person to internalize the type of resources that are so valuable for self-soothing. Dyadic Resourcing uses the same bilateral stimulation (e.g., eye movements) that is utilized in EMDR. Dyadic Resourcing helps build the positive neural networks in the brain and adaptive adult perspectives necessary to facilitate trauma resolution during EMDR reprocessing.