A short one, for anyone who has ever sat across from a client and heard, “I don’t really remember anything specific.”
In our last blog we talked about the importance of isolating a SPECIFIC memory during Phase III, as you prepare for processing. (Remember, EMDR is a MEMORY-based intervention!) But what if your client can’t produce a specific memory?
I think of a woman I worked with who had experienced maternal childhood neglect. I knew that we had to process these experiences in order for her to make any significant progress. But like many, she had little recognition of specific childhood events.
In these cases, we use a technique to develop a “prototypical memory.” For example, during Phase III, I asked this woman to create what she believed to be a typical experience of neglect from her mother. How old does she see herself as? Where was she? Where was her mother? What was her mother doing? What was she doing? What WASN’T her mother doing? Was anyone else there?
By probing for specific details of what an experience typically looked like, this prototypical memory can be set up as a memory, and then you follow the rest of the protocol to obtain the worst part, the negative cognition, the positive cognition, and so on. It is quite effective in the absence of a vivid memory.
Try it sometime, and let us know how it goes!
Take good care, Kathleen and Liz
