What Is Adaptive Information Processing in EMDR Therapy?

Roamers Therapy I October 2026

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapeutic approach that can be particularly helpful in reducing the distress caused by intrusive memories of traumatic events we’ve experienced in our lives. EMDR helps us work through trauma using a method called “bilateral stimulation,” which involves alternating left-right movements. This can include following a therapist’s finger with our eyes or feeling gentle taps on each side of the body. These forms of stimulation have been shown to help our brain process memories in a way that reduces their emotional intensity. The way EMDR understands human psychology, including the effects of trauma and how we can work through it, is often explained through a model called “Adaptive Information Processing.”

What lies behind different therapy approaches?

Different therapeutic approaches often differ in how they understand and explain how our personality develops and changes, how our mind works, how we develop mental health challenges in the first place, and how these challenges can be treated. 

These differences in theory then affect what a therapist chooses to look at more closely and explore more deeply in the therapy room, as well as what they do with what they discover and how they use it to bring about the psychological changes that led us to seek therapy in the first place.

Adaptive Information Processing is one such theoretical model that describes how EMDR approaches human psychology and the main principles it uses in the therapy room.

Core assumptions of the AIP model

Nature of memories and causes of present moment symptoms

According to AIP, debilitating symptoms of traumatic events occur because of how information is processed and stored in our brains through memory systems. When we have a new experience, we process and store different aspects of it, such as images, emotions, physical sensations, thoughts, and beliefs, as part of its memory. 

When we can successfully integrate these memories in our minds, we often learn or extract some information from our memories as they accumulate, so that we don’t necessarily need to recall all aspects of them in the same way we first experienced them. 

In time, different memories that are stored also get associated with each other as a schema or a memory network, and we may generalize certain rules about ourselves and our world based on them, including our self-perception, relationship patterns, and habits.

Our bodies’ natural tendency toward adaptive resolution and the effect of trauma

According to AIP, our body’s natural tendency is toward self-healing and “adaptive resolution.” For example, when there is a physical injury, our body works to heal the wound unless something blocks the wound from healing. AIP says that this is also true for psychological experiences. Our memories often integrate into our minds in a way that allows us to learn new information that is adaptive for future use. However, because traumatic events are too overwhelming, they often disturb our body’s natural information processing, which prevents associated memories from being appropriately stored and integrated into associated memory networks. When this happens, recalling such memories creates overwhelming and disturbing sensations in the current moment, which can make past events cause challenging symptoms in the current moment, including those of PTSD.

EMDR’s way of utilizing memory systems

According to AIP, EMDR works by bringing those traumatic memories back into the session and, with the help of bilateral stimulation, helping them be processed and integrated into appropriate memory networks, allowing the memories to be stored with less emotional distress and more adaptive meaning. Because memories are stored in associated forms, EMDR can target similar memories from childhood, from later adulthood, or current situations to achieve therapeutic effect. 

EMDR activates and processes targeted memory systems using bilateral stimulation, which involves alternating left-right movements, such as following a therapist’s finger with your eyes or feeling gentle taps on each side of your body. During bilateral stimulation and simultaneous focus on the traumatic memory, our brains enter an altered state through focused attention and alternating movement, activating certain limbic and cortical systems and allowing memories to be worked through. This way, EMDR accesses, processes, and adaptively resolves traumatic memories using the principles of how our memory systems work.

Takeaways:

• Different therapeutic approaches use different theories to explain how our minds work and how therapy brings psychological change.
• According to AIP, memories form associated networks that shape our self-perception, relationships, and habits.
• When we experience traumatic events, it can disrupt our body’s natural information processing, causing past experiences to trigger distressing symptoms in the present.
• EMDR helps traumatic memories integrate into appropriate memory networks, reducing emotional distress and allowing more adaptive meaning.
• Through use of bilateral stimulation and focused attention on memories, EMDR helps activate, process, and adaptively resolve traumatic memories.

References & Further Reading

• Shapiro, F. (2018). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy: Basic principles, protocols, and procedures (3rd ed.). Guilford.
• De Jongh, A., De Roos, C., & El‐Leithy, S. (2024). State of the science: Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 37(2), 205–216. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23012
• Landin-Romero, R., Moreno-Alcazar, A., Pagani, M., & Amann, B. L. (2018). How does eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy work? A systematic review on suggested mechanisms of action. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1395. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01395
• Wang, S., He, Y., Hu, J., Xia, J., Fang, K., Yu, J., & Wang, Y. (2024). Eye movement intervention facilitates concurrent perception and memory processing. Cerebral Cortex, 34(5). https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae190
• Roamers Therapy, EMDR Therapy: A Comprehensive Overview of Theory, Mechanisms, and Applications: https://roamerstherapy.com/emdr-eye-movement-desensitization-reprocessing/

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At Roamers Therapy, our psychotherapists are here to support you through anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship issues, race-ethnicity issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, ADHD, Autism, or any challenges you encounter. Our psychotherapists are trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Person-Centered Therapy, and Gottman Therapy. 

Whether you’re seeking guidance on a specific issue or need help navigating difficult emotions, we’re ready to assist you every step of the way.

Contact us today to learn more about our services and schedule a session with our mental health professionals to begin your healing journey. To get started with therapy, you can fill out our inquiry form. You may use this form whether you plan to use insurance benefits, self-pay, or out-of-network benefits, and to receive details about your out-of-pocket costs and our therapists’ availability. Once your appointment is confirmed, you’ll receive intake documents to complete before your first session.

This page is also part of the Roamers Therapy Glossary; a collection of mental-health-related definitions that are written by our therapists.

While our offices are currently located at the South Loop neighborhood of Downtown Chicago and Lakeview on Chicago’s North Side, Illinois, we also welcome and serve clients for online therapy from anywhere in Illinois and Washington, D.C. Clients from the Chicagoland area may choose in-office or online therapy and usually commute from surrounding areas such as River North, West Loop, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Rogers Park, Logan Square, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Little Village, Bronzeville, South Shore, Hyde Park, Back of the Yards, Wicker Park, Bucktown and many more. You can visit our contact page to access detailed information on our office location.