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Inside EMDR a neurological perspective

Discussion in 'Research' started by Forest, Feb 19, 2014.

  1. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    During the call in group earlier tonight, a 2013 article TMS author by James Alexander, PhD came up. In it, Dr. Alexander presents a theory of how EMDR works from the perspective of brain science. In particular, he uses the idea of memory reconsolidation to explain the effectiveness of EMDR.

    When bad things happen to us, they can create emotional memories that may be very hard to discharge. It might seem that these "emotional learnings" are locked within our brain. However, new research has shown that these emotional learnings can be "reconsolidated," leading to healing. This is called memory reconsolidation, and EMDR is one of the therapies that can bring it about.

    If you would like some basic information about EMDR, you can find it on our wiki page about it:

    Here is the article by Dr. Alexander:

    It is very up to date, synthesizing a great deal of current science. Because of this, it is fairly technical.
  2. Walt Oleksy

    Walt Oleksy Beloved Grand Eagle

    The article is long and deep but just a few minutes reading is even worthwhile.

    Memory reconsolidation is definitely worth considering.
    Sienna likes this.
  3. BruceMC

    BruceMC Beloved Grand Eagle

    One of the things that I think that is extremely interesting in James Alexander's article is that the state of consciousness produced by bilateral stimulation during EMDR therapy is indeed similar to the dream states we experience during REM sleep. Both can result in memory reconsolidation.
    Sienna likes this.

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