The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model is a theory that describes how the brain processes and links memories. It explains symptoms, guides Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy treatment, and predicts therapy outcomes.

The AIP model helps us understand EMDR therapy. It recognizes that both positive and negative experiences influence a person’s current perceptions, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors: “The past is present.” Experiences from the past become the “glasses” that we wear when we see the present. Disturbing experiences appeared "stuck" and linked to other disturbing ones. EMDR therapy helps us to get unstuck so those old feelings, thoughts, and body sensations do not keep affecting our lives today.

Many of the current problems that people come to therapy for such as anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, etc., are rooted in memories of traumatic or adverse life experiences. Identifying and reprocessing these memories is a focus of EMDR treatment. EMDR therapy is designed to create the conditions to activate the brain’s processing abilities and aid in the recovery process.

Let’s Explore an Example

Nico, a six-year-old boy, is learning to swim while his father holds him in the water. His father gets distracted for a minute, loses his grip on Nico, and the child goes underwater. Nico’s father grabs him and brings him to the surface. As Nico begins to cry, his father comforts and reassures him. Nico learns that he is OK, and the fear passes.

Later, Nico will likely recall how much fun he was having in the water because of the safety and support that his father gave him after the scary moment. The memory gets processed adaptively and is not troubling.

Now let’s pretend for a moment that Nico’s father does not offer the support needed. Perhaps he does not offer comfort and reassurance. Perhaps he blames Nico for overreacting or for going underwater.

Later, when Nico thinks about the experience, he cannot recall how much fun he had in the water. In this example, the distress is not resolved. He did not receive safety and support from his father, and the memory becomes linked in a nonadaptive way. He might experience feelings of guilt, responsibility, anxiety, and fear. Nico might avoid swimming.

As an adult, Nico might recall this event at a seemingly cognitive level. However, the recalling might also be in the form of disturbing sensations, images, or beliefs about himself, such as “I am not in control.” The experience of going underwater and not receiving any comfort has overwhelmed Nico’s information processing system.

How Can EMDR Therapy Help Nico?

As an adult Nico experiences disturbing sensations and negative beliefs about himself. During therapy, he discovers that they began after the swimming incident. EMDR therapy could help him move to a more adaptive understanding that it was a momentary experience. It happened a long time ago, and now he has much more control over how he handles himself. He could also realize that his father’s response was the problem and that his fear reaction was normal and understandable at the time of the event. Nico can feel relieved that he was a child and he can have different reactions as an adult.