The Feeling State Addiction Protocol

The Feeling State Addiction Protocol, or FSAP, was developed by Robert Miller, PhD.

Dr. Miller believes that addictions (both behavioral and substance) are created when positive feelings become rigidly linked with specific objects or behavior. He adapted the standard EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) protocol to detach feelings and behaviors that become problematic. Any feeling can become stuck to any behavior. With the FSAP protocol, we aim to identify the underlying feelings that a person is seeking when they do the behavior, then deconstruct that connection between feeling and behavior, so the need for the undesired behaviors will stop. As we work, there may be underlying experiences or memories that surface which may have contributed to the problem, and those feelings or memories can be addressed and cleared. A behavioral addiction can be caused by a single positive event. A behavioral addiction is just a different form of state-dependent memory. Often, there can be several desired feeling states that a person is seeking which fuel an addiction or compulsive behavior, but we can identify them and work with them one-at-a-time as they are uncovered through the work.

Issues the FSAP is helpful for may include:

Compulsive shopping

Compulsive eating

Out of control gambling

Compulsive sexual behaviors . . . and more.