Dr Michael Oon

I searched for more than 10 years,

Who is Dr Michael Oon PhD?

My interest in psychological illnesses started when I worked at the Institute of Psychiatry (University of London). I noticed that psychological disorders appeared after trauma and other negative life experiences.

Secondly, treatment for psychological disorders can take 6 months to as long as a lifetime. The efficacy of the treatment varied from patient to patient.

Whilst working as a Forensic Scientist at the Metropolitan Police Laboratory (Scotland Yard) in London, I noticed that the starting of many crimes involved anger. This could have arisen from a memory with strong emotion.

Planning

I thought to myself, if I can get rid of the cause of negative emotions like fear, anger, guilt, perhaps I could have a better life with positive attitudes, expanding comfort zone, more confidence, less anger and guilt. So, I discussed this with a Clinical Psychologist at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (King’s College London).

She explained to me why negative memories with the linked emotion could be retrieved so quickly whereas other types of stored memory are harder to recall.

Fear is an important emotion with the evolutionary roots for man’s survival. When threatened, this emotion prepares the body for “fight or flight”. To recognise these points of fear, the memories of threats (negative memories) are stored in the most accessible parts of the brain so, when there is a threat, there is a quick response and behaviour change.

In the 21st Century, we do not have to fight for our physical survival but this fear emotion is still present.  When we have had a bad experience like trauma or other incidents, the quick recall mechanism with the concomitant emotional response is still there.

The response to these bad experiences differs from person to person. For example, a woman with traumatic childbirth could react when seeing babies or even the music associated with the childbirth event but others not. Similarly, someone might just see a spider and start panicking and drive the car off the road but not others. It is so variable. For those who have a reaction, it starts with this rapid recall of the negative memory and the linked emotions get triggered.

The issue is when a person relives the traumatic event through nightmares and flashbacks. These symptoms can have a significant impact on a person’s life. These are usually symptoms of PTSD or Anxiety.

The type and efficacy of the treatment depend very much on the patient. The treatment can last 6 months or a lifetime. Many mental health professionals are saying that trauma and other negative life experiences are causal factors in many psychological disorders

I discussed my case further as I wanted to remove my undesired memories and linked emotions to improve myself. In her opinion, there would be an improvement in my mindset as it would remove my fears or inhibitions.

However, the health service is for serious cases and the methods are not suitable for me. She suggested that I look at the methods used in personal development or “pop psychology” as she calls it – neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), hypnotherapy emotional freedom technique (EFT) etc. 

The Search

I tried the treatments of the various personal development methods but there was no significant change. I then decided to find interest groups where the people had removed their negative memories with their unwanted emotions and see the result in their lives. I visited 2 groups – in Taiwan and Seattle (USA).

I found that they were calm and quietly confident. They told me that their lives were fulfilling and very good. They have extended their comfort zone considerably and are achieving far more than they ever thought they could.

I asked the American group whether I could learn their techniques of removing negative memories. I was warned that only 1 person in 4 is able to complete the programme successfully. It was a long and tedious process which involved strict discipline and meditation. This involved regular and frequent trips to the States. After a few years, I was not progressing as much as expected so, with a heavy heart, I had to drop out of the training programme in spite of the time and money that I had invested. I was really disappointed in myself.

and found it on “my doorstep”.

The Solution

I continued my search until I stumbled upon IEMT at an evening talk in London. This IEMT method was devised by Andrew T Austin in England during the early noughties (2000 decade) and claims to do everything I wanted but faster.

I had 3 issues that wanted treatment and I tried it with IEMT procedure. – a re-occurring memory of a horrendous crime scene, the experience of a senior person treating me very badly and the fear I had of networking (meeting new people and making my pitch).

My sleep was disrupted with the images of the first 2 and my thoughts would go back to these incidents and leave me with strong negative emotion. My emotion was of anger BUT I knew there was nothing I could do because it was a past event. These thoughts just kept coming back.  I had the fear of attending networking events but I had to grow my business. My hands would sweat at a networking meeting and be afraid to approach people. It was horrendous. I was getting nowhere both personally and my business.

This changed after completing the IEMT treatment. I cannot recall the crime scene any more but I know of the incident. The images of the bully are still there but the emotion is not. I can think or speak of it but I do not feel any emotion. I can now approach people at networking confidently. I am now thinking about the future rather than harping about the past. I am quietly gaining confidence and I can feel my life improving. Relationships and health have improved and my persistent eczema has subsided. My comfort zone changed – new types of foods, cloth designs, approaches to life, a more positive attitude.

After 6 months, the old emotions did not return. I felt better and the colour of the complexion changed for the better. Armed with these changes, I took the IEMT practitioner course. After certification, I started to try out this method in my neighbourhood, friends and businesses. After more than 100 clients, I went through my records to plan my next step. It was most encouraging.

Some observations of my initial studies

My observations confirm the ability of IEMT to work on incidents that occurred in the past. IEMT cuts the link between the emotion and the memory or erases the memory altogether. It was really effective with clients who have symptoms of anxiety (including PTSD and of various forms). Some were receiving counselling. It has also worked on the symptoms of guilt, reactive depression, fears and phobias (like spiders, heights, worms). In many cases, change occurred. This was the beginning of a new chapter in their life.

Fear of flying incident – We were on a flight from London to Singapore. The man next to me told me that as he has the fear of flying and this was the first time in more than 15 years that he had flown between Australia and the UK. The flight was necessary as his ageing mother in the UK was poorly. I carried out the IEMT procedure and straight away, he was like normal, chatting easily and then falling asleep. He had told me later, he never sleeps on the flight because of fear! He just grips the armrests, stares into space and leaves the plane exhausted with aching arms.

He was so pleased with the therapy that when we arrived at Singapore airport, he was unusually “fresh” and gave me a warm farewell hug.

He then told my wife, Helen “Your husband is really wonderful”.

Helen: What did he do?

Man: He helped me overcome my fear of flying.

The use of IEMT on issues that are current or in the future. 

I have found IEMT not particularly effective for clients who have current problems (like an ongoing court case, divorce battle). However, there are 2 incidents where they are very effective for present or future events.

•             Anxiety before an event like a driving test, a job interview, appearance in court, an examination etc. The anxiety disappears and you feel calm.

•             To change your perception of a person: You hate your boss; you disagree with your partner. After the therapy, you have a neutral stance of the person as the emotion is taken away. It feels so different so quickly.

Dealing with stress in the staff of a large London hotel 

I was involved in a pilot project with a large London Hotel to reduce stress in the front-line staff. This is a stressful job as it is taking guest complaints but yet showing their best and professional behaviour.

I carried out the IEMT on 30 staff. Over a six-month period, the General Manager noted that the complaints that reached him had dropped by more than 50%. This was a crude indication of the effectiveness of the procedure in the staff. Certainly, more work needs to be carried out on the quantitative measures of this technique in business.

This is what I am doing now - My Contribution

My next step

I thought to myself, IEMT has worked for me, I have also successfully helped more than a hundred people with this method. Together with my earlier observations at the Institute of Psychiatry and Metropolitan Police, negative memories linked with emotion can be very damaging. It is becoming increasingly evident that these undesired memories are the causal factors in many psychological disorders and possibly a crime.

From these observations, I decided my next step was to concentrate my services in the treatment of PSTD and Anxiety. People with PTSD have their lives severely disrupted with flashbacks and nightmares. Here is a technique, from my experience and other fellow practitioners, that can restore their lives to normality quickly. It gives them something they miss – “being still”.

Why choose Dr Michael Oon PhD?

• I was brought up with the ethos of helping people by using my talents and personality.
• My interest is to help people to make the change. I provide a service which makes tangible changes for their personal issues.
• I am a firm believer that treatments should be quick and effective. Tangible changes are shown.
• My main interest is in the result of my client rather than the process used.