Take EMDR to the Tipping Point |

By Dana Terrell, LCSW, AC

Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point¹ explains that when a virus, a fad, or the spread of new knowledge, reaches the point that it cannot be stopped, it’s reached the tipping point. It changes from rare to well-known. If we can create this for EMDR, the resource we know and love, what a wonderful service we will provide our community and our world!

One key player in creating a tipping point is a “Connector.” Gladwell says these people “manage to occupy many different worlds and subcultures and niches.” “…their ability to span many different worlds is a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability and energy.”² Connectors are important for the sheer numbers of people they know, as much as for the variety of people they know.

Think of the Connectors you know, in the EMDR community, your social media communities and beyond. Contact them to see how they might like to contribute to this goal. Because they love people, they are motivated to help. And they may know someone in a key position who is a Maven (another key player) who loves to share information that is positive and can benefit many. And in this info age, Facebook and LinkedIn are powerful Connectors/Mavens.

While Connectors connect us to other people, Mavens connect us with new information. “The word Maven comes from the Yiddish and it means one who accumulates knowledge,” says Gladwell. In our professional EMDR community, a wealth of research has been done that Mavens would be proud of. So, who would be prime examples of Mavens? How about the stunning example of Francine Shapiro? Very few do as thorough and responsible a job of sharing information as she has done.

Other good groups in which to find Mavens: energetic and successful blog posters, teachers, lawyers, MDs, all clinicians, hairdressers, dental hygienists.

It may be a great thing for your local EMDR colleagues to brainstorm. List all the Connectors and Mavens whom you know, including internet sources. Then, look for good ways to share the research and efficacy of EMDR. Possibilities:

Give a presentation (easiest way is to use EMDRIA’s presentation packet, including the PowerPoint Presentation for professionals or for the public)
Visit the office of a health care provider, such as a Primary Care Physician, Psychiatrist, Naturopath, Osteopath, Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, Nutritionist, or health care supporters at a yoga studio, or tai chi, chi gong, nia, or other gentle body discipline and give a presentation plus a demo of a Resource.
Join Facebook or LinkedIn and look for ways to share articles about EMDR with your friends (and possibly your friends’ friends). “Like” our EMDR Comprehensive Therapy Approach, and share or comment on good posts.

If there be righteousness in the Heart, there will be Beauty in the character. If there be Beauty in the character, there will be Harmony in the Home. If there be Harmony in the Home, there will be order in the Nation. If there be order in the Nation, there will be Peace in the world. – Confucius

I’ve always loved this quote. I think it’s the formula for EMDR reaching the Tipping Point. It starts small. It starts at home, in our town, on our FB profile, with our local Mavens, Connectors and Salespeople, (the 3^rd key player/skill which I believe we all possess if we can succeed at persuading our clients to try EMDR). It grows to reach those in need throughout the Nation and the world with the help of all additional Connectors, Mavens and Sales People we can harmoniously invite in on the project. Let us take EMDR to the tipping point, and make it a resource known in every household.

1 The Tipping Point–How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Malcolm Gladwell, 2000; Little, Brown & Company

2 pp 48-49, The Tipping Point