IEMT for Grief

Note: The client’s name and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy.

Holly is a young woman who has lived with an extraordinary degree of loss, largely through a series of sudden deaths involving family members and close friends. Although she had previously engaged in several trauma-focused therapies, including EMDR, she continued to experience profound grief, loneliness, and emotional pain. She described her inner world as one in which “loneliness is haunting me,” alongside a deeply ingrained belief that she was “unlovable.”

Holly became interested in IEMT after observing significant shifts in two close acquaintances who had completed the process. She had the goal of functioning more healthily in relationships and of moving forward from grief that felt all-consuming. The sheer number and intensity of the losses she had endured, many of them entirely outside her control, had left her feeling emotionally burdened and unable to move on.

The work focused on multiple traumatic memories spanning early childhood through adulthood. These memories carried strong emotional imprints of grief, guilt, anger, sadness, and loneliness. As the process unfolded, it became clear that Holly was not only responding to her many losses but also living with a pervasive anticipatory anxiety. Situations that echoed earlier trauma, such as travelling or leaving familiar places, often evoked fear and distress, making it difficult for her to remain grounded in everyday life.

A pivotal moment occurred when Holly recognised that an early childhood trauma was shaping both her sense of self and her relational patterns. The belief “I am unlovable” had come to function as an unconscious organising principle, influencing how she interpreted loss and how she related to others.

After four sessions, meaningful changes emerged in Holly’s relationship to her past, her emotional responses, and her identity. She began to see that loss had become fused with her self-concept, as though grief defined who she was, rather than being something that had happened to her. This shift became evident when she attended a grief support group and realised it no longer felt necessary. For the first time, she experienced a genuine freedom to choose how she invested her time and emotional energy.

Before her IEMT exploration, Holly had felt unable to make positive changes in her life, remaining tied to a place saturated with painful memories. Following the sessions, she described feeling excited about moving into a new home and beginning a new chapter. She also began to think more expansively about her career and personal life. Holly has always been a deeply compassionate and generous person, often volunteering with organisations connected to the kinds of trauma she herself had known. As the emotional weight of her unresolved grief eased, she noticed an increased capacity to give to others without feeling depleted.

Reflecting on the process, Holly shared:

“For the first time, I realise that I have the tools I need to meet challenges as they arise. I feel more at peace with day-to-day life, and genuinely excited about what lies ahead.”

Rose Ferguson is a certified IEMT Practitioner and Certified Hypnotherapist based in Virginia, USA. She integrates IEMT with evidence-based hypnotherapy and mind-body approaches at integrativehypnotherapyva.com.