Does a behaviour keep pulling you back?

Are urges or habits affecting your wellbeing, your relationships, or the life you want to live? Understanding what draws you back to a behaviour can be an important part of working towards change.

The Feeling-State Addiction Protocol (FSAP) explores the connection between a particular behaviour and an intensely desired feeling. It uses a modified form of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to work with that connection.

What is a feeling-state?

In the feeling-state model, a behaviour can become closely linked with a feeling such as comfort, excitement, power, or being special. The person may then feel drawn to repeat the behaviour to experience that feeling again.

For example, with compulsive shopping, the strongest feeling might be connected with entering a store, receiving attention, trying on clothes, buying an item, or holding it afterwards. We look carefully at the specific part of the experience and the feeling attached to it.

What does the work involve?

1. Identify the specific behaviour and the part of it associated with the strongest positive feeling.
2. Identify the feeling, memory, and meaning connected with that experience.
3. Use the FSAP process to work with the link between the feeling and the behaviour.
4. Work with relevant negative beliefs and review what has changed.

The aim is to reduce the pull of the compulsive pattern. The pace and number of sessions depend on the person and what needs attention. More than one feeling may be connected with the same behaviour.

Is FSAP the right approach for me?

That begins with a conversation about what you are experiencing and the support you need. FSAP may be considered as part of a broader counselling plan. This page cannot determine which treatment is appropriate for you.

Meet James

James Miklos is a Registered Psychotherapist. He has provided pastoral counselling, counselling and psychotherapy since 1994.

Read about James→