In eating disorders, the body is seen and perceived in an altered way and plays a significant role in the onset and maintenance of eating disorders. The subject's gaze actively captures information that he or she deems significant and "targets" particular areas of the body (body checking). Depending on the subject's greater or lesser vulnerability, a negative body image is formed, a state of persistent dissatisfaction, worry and discomfort for some aspects of one's body generates a malfunction in affective and social relationships. 

The work presents the analysis of the body image on 12 subjects of different ages (from 15 to 60 years), 9 females and 3 males with eating disorders. developed according to the 3DTherapy® methodology which provides for the division into three moments: 

1) evocative-experiential process (phase A) centered on the actualized experience of the subject referred to his/her own body with the externalization of the dysfunctions on a graph; 2) phase Bx construction of the 3D® object (stimulus) that acts as a bridge between the real Self (conscious) and the ideal Self (unconscious) and that reflects the dysfunctional emotional-cognitive experiences evoked by the subject, 3) process of exposing the subject to the 3D® object presented on the light board. The process is divided temporally into two moments: the first 10 minutes (phase Cx) brief exposure, in which the stimulus is presented accompanied by Bilateral Ocular Stimulation (EMDR); and prolonged exposure until the reported problem is solved (phases D-E). 

The results of the following processes are recorded:- evocative-experiential (phase A) the subjects recall their dysfunctional emotions by localizing them on their body and attribute a disturbing subjective value that tends to be very high (SUD=8-10), - brief exposure (phase Cx) the subjects are attracted by the stimulus, direct their gaze on the 3D® object which remains anchored on it with a focused attention on the negative emotional characteristics reflected by the stimulus, with moments of increasingly lively fixations and ocular movements.- prolonged exposure (phase D-E) the subjects remain immersed (flooding) in a full and syntonic contact with the 3D® object in a dual attention that promotes emotional stabilization (SuD=0) and a dialogic narration between the dysfunctional image "reflected" by the 3D® object and the real image. The processed information is elaborated and integrated into a new synthesis of meanings that allow the achievement of a positive cognition of the Self, in a more functional solution for the person.

In analysis: Mirroring during exposure to the 3D® object, associated with Bilateral Stimulation, immediately activates a neurophysiological process that produces desensitization to the dysfunctional elements reflected by the 3D® object. with a Process that produces emotional self-regulation, inhibition of the amygdala and recovery of the evoked dysfunctional memory, activation of the hippocampus. The persistence of exposure involves hemispheric integration and activation of the ventromedial prefrontal that starts the process of awareness in a dialectic of narration of the Self on the dynamics reflected by the 3D® object, a process that modulates empathic and mentalized capacities in a positive appreciation of the Self. 

In conclusion: The exposure of the subjects to the 3D® object associated with Bilateral Stimulation leads in the first 10 minutes to an immediate desensitization of the negative emotional dynamics, subsequently the exposure promotes in the subjects the integration and processing of the dysfunctional information with an active modulation of the Ventromedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal cortex with the achievement of emotional stability and the cognitive solution of the dysfunction.

Amato Mariannina born in Nicastro on 08/02/1963, lives in Lamezia Terme where she works as a psychologist and ASPIC psychotherapist at the NPIA and for some years at the CSM of the ASP-CZ.

EMDR Practitioner. He invents the 3D Therapy® methodology, an inventive instrumental application of the 3D printer for psychotherapeutic purposes.

Participates in national and European EMDR congresses, publishes in various scientific journals and various essays on the well-being of women and mothers and children: “Come vincere la depressione durante e dopo la gravidanza”(2007), “Legame materno” (2008), “Ti aiuto a crescere: le tappe della personalità tra femminilità e virilità(2014) con la casa editrice Sovera di Roma; cap “Legame tra la madre e il prenato” (2010) e “La transitività materna” (2011) con la casa editrice IF PRESS di Roma; “La Qualità nell’Azienda Sanitaria”(2015) con la casa editrice Rubbettino di Soveria Mannelli; “3D Therapy® la materializzazione dell’emozione”(2019) con la casa editrice Grafichéditore di Lamezia Terme; in fase di pubblicazione “I processi neuropsicologici della percezione visiva applicati al trattamento della 3D Therapy®