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WebCAER (Web Computer Aided Emotional Restructuring) provides an extension of caer which will run on your Windows-based personal computer. (Users say that it will also run on a Mac with the Parallels program.) When used regularly, it is very effective for extinguishing negative feelings from thoughts, images, memories and words.

Playing a recording – Sounds button

The buttons on WebCAER are designed to work like a common tape recorder. When WebCAER first loads, it automatically starts playing the original WebCAER music, so you do not have to click the Play button to begin.

You may select another sound file by clicking the Sounds button in the top tool bar. How to record and down load new sound files is discussed below.

Play

If you have previously paused playing a recording you can restart listening to it by clicking Play.

If you wish to play a recording other than the default music, first you need to click the Sounds button in the upper menu. Then click on your choice. Click OK. Then click Play. You will then hear your selection.

You can adjust the volume with the Volume slider in the bottom menu.

Pause

You may pause in the middle of either recording a message or playing back a previously recorded sound file. If you have paused during recording, you must restart the recording by clicking the Record button. If you paused during playing back of a previously recorded sound file, then you must click the Play button to restart listening to the message where you paused.

Stop

You may stop recording or playing a previously recorded message by clicking the Stop button. If you are recording when you hit the stop button you will be asked the name you wish to save your recording under.

If you were playing a previously recorded message, you can begin listening to the beginning of that message again by clicking Play.

Pause vs. Record buttons

The difference between using pause and stop while listening to a recording is that when you restart after a pause, you will begin where you left off. When you restart after a stop, you will begin at the beginning of the recording.

Recording a message

You can record a message directly from WebCAER or with a digital recorder. Recording with WebCAER is controlled by the buttons in the bottom toolbar. Usually, it is best to keep recordings less than five minutes. Often two or three minutes will work very well.

Connecting microphone

First you have to have a microphone connected to your computer. On most computers, laptop or desk model, there are a panel of Jackson plugs in the back. One of these is for your microphone. It is usually about 1/8 of an inch in diameter and marked with something that looks vaguely like a microphone. Plug your microphone into that jack. If you can not locate the plug, the manual that came with your computer will direct you to it.

Many newer laptops I have a microphone built in. Desktop PC's are often shipped with one.

Record

The most important and first step in recording is to spend a few minutes figuring out what you want to say. Hold the microphone about 8 inches in front of, and to one side of your mouth. When you are ready, click Record. Speak in a clear normal volume. Put as much feeling into the message as you can. Often the emotion carried by the message is more important than the actual content.

Pause

To temporarily halt recording while you collect your thoughts click Pause. To restart recording, click Record. You may go and forth between Pause and Record as many times as you wish.

Stop

When you are done recording click Stop. Once you have clicked Stop you cannot add anything else. So, click Pause instead of Stop if you have more things you still want to add.

Recording messages with a digital recorder

There are now many very fine small digital recorders that you can use to make sound files. You'll have to consult the instructions for the software supplied with these machines to determine how to save the files to your hard drive.

Save your sound files to: C:\WebCAERfiles\Sounds . This directory should already exist. If you get a message asking if you want to create the directory, you have not entered the above path correctly.

Editing Sound files

It is often very useful to edit a sound file before you listen to it, particularly for files made by children. This way you can edit out quiet spaces, mumbles, etc. you can download- “Winamp Full”, free from www.download.com . We cannot support this software.

Transferring pictures and sounds to WebCAER

Though you can record sound files from the WebCAER program itself, you can easily download both sound and picture files from your camera or phone. To do this, have WebCAER running, then simply plug in your media device (phone, camera, digital recorder etc. ) to the USB port on your computer. In a few moments a window (or two) will open. Often, the first window you will see will be brought up by your Windows operating system. It will ask you what you wish to do with these files. If this happens, simply close this window by clicking on the X in the upper right hand corner.

The window you want is entitled “Copy your recordings and pictures”.

Find you pictures and recordings

The first thing you need to do is to find the files you want to download on your media device. Your device is seen as an external hard drive. Under the words “Your Recording Source” is a single row window that defaults to the drive that your PC  sees your device as. You should not need to change this. However, if you have an unusual device, you may select another drive with the down arrow on the right side of this window.

The next window down shows the folders on your camera. Click on the folder that has your pictures. On my camera it is the DCIM and under that, the 103_PANA folder. It may be different on you device.

You will then see a list of files on your device in the bottom window.

Mark files

Select the files that you want to copy to your WebCAER program by holding down the control key and clicking on the ones you wish to copy. If you accidentally click one you really do not want, clicking it a second time will un-mark it.

Copy

When you have a list of files you want to copy marked correctly, then click the Copy button or at the top of the right column

Delete

If you wish, you may delete the files you marked and copied from your device by clicking Delete. This is not necessary.

Viewing my pictures –Images button

You may display the pictures you have saved by clicking the Images button in the top toolbar. Select the image by double-clicking on it. How to select another sound file is discussed above.

Built in browser

WebCAER includes a browser which is essentially the innards of Internet Explorer.

Forward/back

You can move forward in by clicking the green left and right arrows on the left side of the upper toolbar.

URL

You can type in a URL in the window to the right of the two green arrows. Simply hit the enter key to have it go to that URL.

Home

The little greenhouse to the right of the URL window will bring you back to the page that came up when you first started WebCAER

Favorites

The plug symbol will take you to the favorites you created with your Internet Explorer. You cannot create new favorites with the browser in WebCAER. You need to do that with your regular Internet Explorer

Help

The ? We will take you to this help file.

Creating Your Own Image Files

It is very effective to display personally meaningful pictures between the lights on the WebCAER screen. You can download these from the Web or take the pictures with a digital camera.

Pictures from the Web

You can now search for pictures on Google. When you find something suitable, right to click on it and a window will open. Click on the “save picture as” option. Another window will open to allow you to give your picture a name and specified where you want to save it. Call it what you like and save your picture to: C:\WebCAERfiles\Images . This directory should already exist.

Take pictures with a digital camera

There are two types of digital cameras, 1) those that attach directly to you PC and require your PC to operate 2) cameras that work independently of your PC, but can plugged into your PC to download their pictures.

You can take pictures with a digital camera attached to your PC. You usually plug these cameras into the USB port on your computer. They come with software that allows you to take the picture and save it your hard drive. You'll have to consult the installation instructions and the software manual supplied with your camera to learn how to use it. Save your picture to: C:\WebCAERfiles\Images . This directory should already exist.

You can also use a separate digital camera to take pictures and download them to your PC. This is probably more convenient and little more expensive than buying a camera that is dedicated to your PC. These cameras usually come with software on a CD to install on your PC. There's usually a small cable to connect the camera to the USB port on your computer. The software will allow you to transmit the pictures, through the cable to your hard drive. Save your pictures to: C:\WebCAERfiles\Images . This directory should already exist.

Editing Image files

It is often have helpful to crop, size and edit the pictures you take. You should crop irrelevant material and resize the picture so it will fill most of your screen. They will appear on the WebCAER screen the same size as they do in a picture editor. Though the Paint program supplied with Microsoft Windows is adequate, you will be happier with a more powerful program.

You can download- “Paint Buster” free from www.download.com

Bottom Control Panel Buttons

Pause halts the program so that it remembers its place in the sound file when you begin again..

Stop halts the program so that you restart at the beginning of the sound file

Sliders

Speed

You can use this to change the speed of the sound and lights going back and fourth.

Volume

This controls the volume of the sound. If you cannot get the volume to suit you, remember, Windows has a Master Volume Control that over rides all others, including the one on WebCAER. There is usually a yellow or gray speaker icon in the Tool Tray in the lower right of your screen that you can double click on to access the Master Volume Control.

Position

Use the position slider to adjust the vertically location of the lights.

Macintosh Users.

Though I cannot support Macs since I don't have one and don't know much a about them, former patient/Mac users tell me that if they use the Parallels program, they can run WebCAER on their Mac. You can order Parallels from http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/