Tracking and Interpreting Your Progress

Understanding Your Healing Journey

Healing isn’t always a straight line. When using EmEase, you might experience rapid breakthroughs, gradual improvements, temporary plateaus, or even occasional increases in distress as deeper material emerges. All of these patterns are normal parts of the processing journey.

The EmEase app provides several tools to help you track your progress over time. These tracking features can help you recognize patterns, celebrate improvements, and adjust your approach when needed.

Key Progress Indicators

Distress Level Changes

The most direct measure of progress is the change in your distress levels. After each processing session, you’ll rate how distressing your target feels on a scale from 0-10. The app tracks these ratings over time, creating a visual chart of your progress.

What to look for:

• Steady decreases in distress levels often indicate successful processing
• Sudden drops might reflect breakthrough moments where significant processing occurred
• Temporary increases sometimes happen when new aspects of the target emerge
• Plateaus may indicate that you’ve processed the current layer and might need to focus on a different aspect

Remember that the goal isn’t always zero distress. For many targets, reaching a 0-2 level indicates sufficient processing to move forward.

Positive Belief Strength

As you process a target, your belief in your positive statement should gradually strengthen. The app tracks your ratings of how true your positive belief feels (1-7 scale).

What to look for:

• Increasing scores over time suggest your perspective is shifting in a healthy direction
• Significant jumps often accompany emotional breakthroughs
• Slow changes are common and still represent meaningful progress

Many people notice that their positive belief strength changes more slowly than their distress levels. This is normal—emotional relief often comes before deep belief changes.

Physical Sensation Changes

Pay attention to how physical sensations associated with your target change over time. You can document these changes in your session notes.

Common physical changes include:

• Tension releasing from tight areas
• Warmth replacing coldness
• Heaviness transforming into lightness
• Constricted areas feeling more open

These bodily shifts often signal deep processing, even when emotional or cognitive changes are less obvious.

Using the EmEase Tracking Tools

Distress Level Charts

The app automatically generates charts showing your distress levels across sessions for each target. To access these charts:

1. Go to the Journey section
2. Select a specific target
3. View the Distress Chart tab

These visual representations help you see patterns that might not be obvious when looking at individual sessions.

Session Notes Review

After each session, you can record insights and observations. These notes become valuable records of your journey. To review your notes:

1. Go to the Sessions section
2. Select Past Sessions
3. Choose a specific session to view your notes

Periodically reviewing these notes can reveal themes, patterns, and subtle changes you might otherwise miss.

Target Status Updates

The app categorizes your targets based on their current status:

• Active: Targets you’re currently working on
• Completed: Targets with sustained low distress levels
• Paused: Targets you’ve temporarily set aside

This organization helps you maintain focus and recognize your accomplishments.

Beyond the Numbers: Recognizing Real-Life Progress

While the app’s tracking features provide valuable data, some of the most meaningful signs of progress happen in your daily life:

Behavioral Changes

• Approaching situations you previously avoided
• Responding more calmly to triggers
• Making different choices in relationships or work

Emotional Shifts

• Recovering more quickly from upsets
• Experiencing greater emotional range
• Feeling more present and engaged

Cognitive Changes

• Noticing more balanced thoughts about yourself
• Seeing situations from multiple perspectives
• Reduced rumination about past events

Relational Improvements

• More authentic connections with others
• Better boundaries in relationships
• Increased comfort with intimacy or independence

When you notice these real-life changes, add them to your session notes to create a more complete picture of your progress.

When Progress Seems Slow

If you don’t see the changes you’re hoping for, consider these approaches:

Refine Your Target

Sometimes progress stalls because your target needs refinement. You might need to:

• Break a complex target into smaller pieces
• Focus on a specific aspect of the experience
• Identify a different negative belief that better captures your experience

Adjust Your Processing Approach

Try changing elements of your processing sessions:

• Experiment with different stimulus types or speeds
• Adjust the duration of your sessions
• Try different grounding techniques before processing

Practice Patience

Some targets, especially those related to longstanding patterns or early experiences, simply take more time to process. Trust that your brain is working even when progress isn’t immediately visible.

Celebrating Your Journey

Take time to acknowledge and celebrate your progress, no matter how small it might seem. Each step forward represents your commitment to your wellbeing and growth.

Consider creating personal rituals to mark significant milestones, such as completing a target or noticing an important real-life change. These celebrations reinforce your progress and build motivation for continued work.

Remember that the courage to face difficult material and the consistency to continue your processing work are achievements in themselves, regardless of how quickly your distress levels change.

Your healing journey is uniquely yours. By tracking your progress in multiple ways, you gain valuable insights that help you navigate this journey with greater awareness and self-compassion.