Not Just Trauma: How EMDR Uses Positive Memories and Resources

EMDR is often described as a trauma therapy, and it certainly is. However, the EMDR model has never only been about wounds. It is also about how the brain stores and uses positive, adaptive experiences. These helpful memories and inner strengths are not a nice bonus; they are vital resources in EMDR work.

The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model suggests that our systems are wired to move toward healing when conditions are right. That healing is fuelled not just by revisiting pain, but by connecting it to existing strengths, supportive relationships, and moments of competence or safety. If trauma memories are like frozen pockets of experience, positive memories are like warm currents that help the ice begin to thaw.

In Phase 2 of EMDR (Preparation), therapists intentionally build and strengthen internal resources before touching traumatic material. This might include guided imagery (such as creating a “safe or calm place”), recalling times of pride or effectiveness, or focusing on a nurturing or protective figure—real or imagined. The goal is not to deny the reality of trauma, but to help the nervous system remember, “This is not all of who I am, and it is not all of my story.”

These resources are not merely “feel-good exercises.” They help regulate arousal, increase a sense of control, and create an internal anchor that clients can return to during and between sessions. For example, a client who easily dissociates might practice grounding skills and body awareness long before processing any specific memory. Someone who feels deeply unworthy might begin by strengthening memories of being appreciated, valued, or cared for.

Positive experiences can later be woven directly into reprocessing. As a client processes a memory of humiliation, spontaneous flashes of being respected, competent, or loved may arise. Instead of steering away from these, the therapist invites the client to notice and deepen them. Over time, the old memory becomes less overwhelming and more integrated into a broader, more compassionate narrative.

Many clients are surprised to discover that the most life-changing part of EMDR is not just that painful memories feel less sharp. It is that positive beliefs about themselves begin to feel believable from the inside out. Statements like “I am safe now,” “I matter,” or “I did the best I could” shift from sounding like affirmations to feeling like lived truth.

Working with resources is not a detour from EMDR or act as a soft alternative for people who “can’t handle the real work.” It is an essential part of how deep, sustainable change takes root. In the EMDR model, healing happens when the brain can fully connect the worst of what happened with the best of what is true about you now—and build a future on that foundation.