This model proposes that when we process information it is stored in memory networks. Some memories are adaptively stored, and some are maladaptively stored. Thus, many psychological difficulties in the present result from distressing life experiences stored in memory in a maladaptively unprocessed way. i.e., the person was unable to successfully process and integrate the experience at the time; these memories often have original sensory components (images, thoughts, feelings, sensations) accompanying them. Present-day situations can trigger these maladaptively stored memories and negatively influence a person’s day-to-day life.

EMDR therapy procedures identify these relevant past experiences informing the client’s current difficulties. The techniques activate the adaptive information processing in the brain, facilitating a reprocessing of the memories and generating alternative patterns of response to similar situations in the future that are more effective and adaptive

EMDR was initially developed to treat the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and has since expanded to treating anxiety, phobias, depression, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, and stress caused by chronic pain and illness.

EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment. After the clinician takes a thorough history, she determines which memory to target. She then asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind during which bilateral stimulation (through eye movements, buzzers, tapping, or sound) is used to stimulate reprocessing. This process is believed to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep when memories are processed in the brain. Some clients describe the process as feeling like a lucid dream or watching a movie of events from their life.