The Theory Behind EMDR

Have you ever wondered why some memories continue to cause distress long after the initial event?

The theory behind EMDR's Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model proposes that:

Issues with mental health arise from 'stuck' memories. These are memories of disturbing life experiences which have not been adequately processed and stored.

In a nutshell;

• We collect information from our internal and external experiences . Our systems are made to integrate these experiences - we naturally process and store this information in a functional and adaptive manner.

• Sometimes this process doesn't work and the memory becomes 'stuck', or stored in a raw form that can impact us in the present moment (emotionally, physiologically, behaviourally and cognitively).

Information from our everyday experiences is stored inside vast networks of connected neurons across our brains called 'adaptive memory networks'.

Our brains have a natural way of dealing with memories. They process memories and store them so that we learn from what happened and it becomes part of how we understand ourselves and the world.

Memories of traumatic events are not filed in the same way as everyday events. When our nervous systems become overwhelmed, it can disrupt processing and storage.

This can stop these memories from being integrated into our adaptive memory networks, and instead they may be stored outside of our memory networks in a more 'raw' state.

Traumatic memories are often linked with intense sensations, thoughts, beliefs and emotions that occurred during the initial traumatic experience.

When these memories are accessed, the sympathetic nervous system is activated. This triggers fight, flight, freeze or fawn modes to attempt to handle perceived danger (think heart pounding, shaking, sweating, emotions, or shut-down and dissociation).

When this happens, people can feel as though the past event is occurring in the present moment.

An example

Jason the paramedic worked for 6 years without any issues. He loved his job, learned from each new experience and stored the memory of each job in his long term memory storage where he could access it as needed.

Then Jason attended a job like many others, but this time the injured person was a child who looked a lot like Jason's son.

Jason was shaken deeply by the experience and was unable to process and store this memory like the past ones.

The memory of the incident became stored in a raw state. It was paired with his intense emotional and physiological reactions. Every time he was reminded of it he started to shake, felt cold and couldn't think straight. He had intrusive thoughts such as suddenly wondering where his son was and if he was okay. Jason started having nightmares and stopped sleeping.

What was happening to Jason?

This was the body's astounding way of trying to manage danger, but like with Jason, it can also create symptoms that don't always serve us in the long run.

Jason's body was trying to help him to manage perceived danger. It pumped adrenaline and cortisol into his system to help increase some body functions (e.g., heart rate, breathing, alertness) and decrease others (e.g., constrict blood vessels, slow down digestion).

If Jason needed to pick something heavy up off his son, or run him to an emergency room, this could be a useful body response.

In this case there was no danger to his son's life, so the response did not serve him.

These unprocessed memories can also be linked to other adverse experiences from the past, which share common beliefs, emotions or body sensations.

For example, Jason's son was born 6 weeks early and Jason had experienced fear for his safety and a strong feeling of powerlessness and helplessness at the time.

Jason also had similar feelings when he was bullied in high school and belittled earlier in life by his uncle.

Unknown to Jason, these experiences were all stored outside of the adaptive memory network and instead were stored along with the intense thoughts, feelings, sensations, images and beliefs attached to each incident.

Where does EMDR come into all this?

EMDR can help to unlock the connected stuck or raw memories and process and store them like a normal past experience.

EMDR helps activate the normal information processing system for stuck memories. It does this using 'dual attention', where the memory is engaged at the same time as working memory (e.g., using sets of horizontal eye movements).

This helps our brains' natural processes to kick in, and allows integration of unprocessed memories.

The engagement of working memory interrupts the heightened activation of our nervous systems by the maladaptively stored memory.

When Jason previously thought about the incident (without the eye movements), his heart rate would go up and he would start to get cold and shaky again.

With his working memory occupied by guided eye movements, his brain was able to retrieve the memory and begin to file it away.

When the working memory was occupied, the brain had competing stimuli and couldn't flood him with the same level of intense emotions, thoughts, beliefs or sensations that were connected to the traumatic memories.

His brain was then freed up to begin the natural processing and storage of the unprocessed memory.

What happens to the traumatic memory?

When EMDR is successful, this memory and connected memories are re-stored within our existing adaptive memory networks.

This can create a desensitisation and distancing effect, where the traumatic memories may feel like they have a hazy quality and overall be less activating.

They become past memories instead of feeling like something that is happening to us now.

The role of positive beliefs

Not only does EMDR work to desensitise the traumatic memories, it can also help to integrate positive beliefs in relation to the traumatic events, and install more adaptive learnings from the experiences.

In summary

The theory is called Adaptive Information Processing because EMDR helps the brain re-process and re-store information that has become unhelpful. The goal is to allow us to learn from past experiences and access those memories in a more adaptive and less distressing way.