How the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model explains Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, and how EMDR & Beyond teaches it.
The Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) theory is the foundation of EMDR therapy. It proposes that the brain has a natural ability to process and integrate information to achieve mental health and emotional balance. The brain has a propensity to move toward health and wellbeing, just as our bodies do.
The AIP model also holds that the past is present. Our brains take in information from the environment in a specific way that keeps us alive:
We package that information up and save it in long-term memory. When anything similar happens, we access the templated meaning we have stored and behave accordingly. We are constantly updating the meaning of our memories.
When a person experiences trauma or overwhelming stress, this normal process can become disrupted, causing distressing memories, emotions, and beliefs to remain “stuck” in an unprocessed state. When we have adverse experiences, our survival brain encodes the meaning of the experience and continues to look for the same dangers. That makes us operate as if we are still in danger of that overwhelming stress taking over again.
AIP theory suggests that, through targeted therapeutic interventions like EMDR, these maladaptively stored memories can be accessed and reprocessed. This allows the brain to heal naturally, restore emotional well-being, and update to an adaptive understanding of the situation we are in: updating our present understanding of self, reducing emotional reactions that do not serve us, and reinforcing the truth in the present.
In the AIP view, this helps us connect more safely in relationships, believe in ourselves in ways we could not see before, and restore an overall sense of functioning.
EMDR is an evidence-based treatment for PTSD. See what current PTSD treatment guidelines say
The AIP explanation on this page is by Kenya Rocha, MS, LMHC, NCC, Owner and Director, EMDR & Beyond. Read Kenya’s full bio
EMDR & Beyond teaches EMDR as a full psychotherapeutic model and leans into Adaptive Information Processing theory as a way to conceptualize and understand what causes unhappiness, difficulties, and challenges in our lives, across emotional, psychological, and in some cases physiological responses to events.
We teach from a basic premise: all humans seek safety and connection. We do this in all of our interactions, and it is the filter through which we engage with others. We are all looking for safe connections. This is a fundamental need.
Using EMDR as a full psychotherapy model makes room for other time-tested approaches to integrate within it. That is why we also provide continuing education that integrates other modalities and topics, to help psychologists and other mental health providers learn about trauma treatment and how to apply EMDR to other presentations in the therapy room.
We invite clinicians who are not yet trained in EMDR to come and learn the AIP perspective and include it in what they already use to help the people they serve heal.
Upcoming dates, fees, and registration.
What PTSD treatment guidelines say, and where EMDR training leads.
Live and on-demand continuing education, including trainings open to all licensed clinicians.
Credit varies by program. Each course page states exactly which credit its program carries, including any program approval number and credit amount. Program disclosures
