The RIM method in summary
Regenerating Images in Memory (RIM) is an innovative conversation technique founded by Deborah Sandella, an award-winning psychotherapist with over 40 years of experience. The method is centered around the body and aims to transform the individual by releasing negative thoughts, feelings and memories, so that the person can live their best life12.
Easy and effortlessly
The clients are easily and effortlessly taken straight to the root of their challenges – where they also solve them. As the facilitator of the process, I follow the client where they need to go. The client knows this himself, and the RIM method assists each individual in getting there.
It was like a mental massage!
Emotional processing
Emotional processing is much easier than previously thought. It doesn’t matter what problems we’re trying to solve. The first challenge is to identify the cause of a problem. Instead of guessing, we can trust that the client’s Feeling Part already knows the answer.
The RIM process is based on the fact that the subconscious automatically finds negative stuck emotional memories that cause challenges. Neuroscientific findings support the effectiveness of RIM® by explaining that the brain and nervous system are changeable (neuroplasticity). Researchers have discovered that a recalled memory can be biochemically destabilized, creating a window of opportunity for change. It is important to BE in the memory (Feel), not just talk about it. RIM makes this possible without reliving traumatic experiences. The old stuck pain can be regenerated in a strengthening way. The original negative memory is regenerated into a new experience and creates new neural pathways in the brain. The original factual memory is still intact, but the negative charge it once had is gone. This allows the client to not only think differently, but will FEEL differently on a much deeper level than we ever thought possible.
Especially effective on
How the method works
There is not a problem or challenge in life that we have not approached logically before – but much still remains unsolved. What RIM does is to quickly, safely and effectively break through and past the logical part of the brain (left hemisphere) and into via our right hemisphere, which is the emotional part of the brain. It gives access to another storage unit in the brain, and thus the opportunity to work with the emotional blockages. It is through simple techniques that the body itself expresses where it is necessary to work. The body knows, and the body tells when you choose to listen. And the body always plays with the whole of you, and will never take you deeper, or into problem areas you are not able to handle. Again, the body knows! The facilitator’s most important task is to create a framework where the client ALWAYS feels safe and has confidence in the inner process. The facilitator follows the client.
A RIM process means that challenging things in life can be addressed and released in a safe and effective way.
The RIM method is based on the principle that the human body and mind are plastic, which means that it is possible to change past experiences and feelings connected to them by reliving and transforming them mentally. The technique uses bodily sensations and the inner visualization ability to bypass logical thinking and go directly to the root of pain, obstacles and blockages. Through the RIM process, neurologically rooted self-perceptions and emotions are “regenerated” in a way that allows us to effortlessly replace negative memories and emotions with positive ones. The RIM method can thus help clients create a new positive body memory that replaces old pain, even if the actual memory remains the same
The river of emotions
We know that emotions guide decisions and behavior and that 95% of our brain activity is not conscious. We go through life basically unconscious and let our past experiences guide our decisions and behavior. RIM creator Dr. Deb calls it the ‘River of Emotions’. Emotions flow through our bodies like water flows through a river. Avoiding a negative emotion is like throwing a stone into a river. And most of us have many boulders in our river, and preferably also a complete dam. This means that we are flooded with the negative emotions we are trying to avoid. What we avoid will not only persist, it will also expand. Life continues around the boulders, causing unnecessary pain and suffering. Stuck emotions can also lead to serious physical ailments, especially if they last for years.
How a RIM session is conducted
Each session is final and independent. Many clients choose a package of 3-5 sessions to strengthen and accelerate the changes on the way to a new way of living, but also a single session can be powerful and create the desired change. A RIM session normally lasts from 1-2 hours, including time to talk both before and after the process. You sit comfortably and relaxed with your eyes closed, but there is an alert and conscious interaction between us. In the weeks following the sessions, you will be able to easily evoke your new beliefs to support and further integrate the changes in your body, mind and life.
One of RIM’s absolute advantages is that a session can be carried out just as well via telephone and via Zoom/Teams (with connection only by pressing a key – no prior technical knowledge required) as face to face. This means that this service can be offered completely regardless of where you are located.
The history of RIM
The RIM method was created in 1995 after a personal experience Deborah Sandella had when her father had a heart attack. Through a spontaneous visualization, Sandella felt she could influence her father to get better, which led her to further exploration of how visualization and mental imagery can be used therapeutically. She was already an experienced psychotherapist with a solid academic background, but this experience led her to explore unconventional techniques that make greater use of the human subconscious and bodily experiences. The RIM method was first developed as a mixture of techniques such as Somatic Therapy, Ericksonian Hypnosis and Interactive Guided Imagery, and has since developed and expanded to become what it is today3.
The RIM method for me
I have always been happy to learn new things, and not least to have a good breadth of tools that I have with me when I assist people on their life’s journey. The RIM method caught my eye immediately with its combination of depth and efficiency. And when I had the opportunity to learn the technique in 2018, and further study under the founder Deborah Sandella, the way forward has meant a lot both to my clients and myself.
My clients are constantly surprised by how easily and naturally they get to the root of their challenges AND solve them. Through my work with the RIM method, I have also developed myself – both as a facilitator and as a person.
For large parts of my adult life, I have been governed by the left hemisphere of my brain in my way of thinking and behaviour, and have thus been most comfortable with logic and not particularly emotionally oriented. RIM has taught me to value and develop my right brain, thus integrating the two halves to a greater extent. This integration has made me a better person. A development both I and those around me have appreciated. I still tend to say that I am still “work in progress”, and it is good to know that we can always stretch and develop further.
I sincerely believe that the RIM method found me at the time in my life where I needed it, both on a professional and an individual level. Maybe it’s RIM you need right now in your life?
