Thanks for this fascinating post, Andromeda! Lots of fun sources to explore.
I was curious about the EMDR controversy.
In my experience, EMDR diffuses the charge in troublesome memories. Thanks to hypnosis and the overwriting that happens each time I remember a particular thing (through my "current self" filter), I get a new ending. I've always chosen a happier one!
Still working though, Why We Remember, by Charan Rangananth, packed with information about rewriting, remembering and reconstructing the past. Highly recommend!
I'm so glad to get this comment, Kirsten, which adds more balance. (In the original post, I also included a very EDMR-positive footnote for that reason.) It sounds, to a layperson, like you have a good therapist and are using EDMR in a useful way, to reshape memories, with the understanding that we are always reshaping our memories. Why not do so in a positive and constructive fashion? Fascinating.
And thank you for mentioning WHY WE REMEMBER! I heard the author on a podcast earlier this month--I was reassured by his messages about not worrying so much about losing memories and embrace the fact that our brain is a useful filter--and I almost bought his book but then decided on another psychology title. I am going to reverse course, buy Rangananth's now, and add it to my huge Audible queue!
Thanks for your response. I really love Dr. Rangananth's book (checked my copy out of the library after waiting for-ever).
He's spreading the word that memory is not meant to be reliable, in the ways that the justice system in the United States, for example, expects it to be. Our memories are flawed, by design. It's normal to walk into the kitchen and forget why you're there.
The implications!
I wrote about this, a touch, in my September newsletter. Which is mostly about memory adjacent topics. Looking forward to your book...
Thanks for this fascinating post, Andromeda! Lots of fun sources to explore.
I was curious about the EMDR controversy.
In my experience, EMDR diffuses the charge in troublesome memories. Thanks to hypnosis and the overwriting that happens each time I remember a particular thing (through my "current self" filter), I get a new ending. I've always chosen a happier one!
Still working though, Why We Remember, by Charan Rangananth, packed with information about rewriting, remembering and reconstructing the past. Highly recommend!
I'm so glad to get this comment, Kirsten, which adds more balance. (In the original post, I also included a very EDMR-positive footnote for that reason.) It sounds, to a layperson, like you have a good therapist and are using EDMR in a useful way, to reshape memories, with the understanding that we are always reshaping our memories. Why not do so in a positive and constructive fashion? Fascinating.
And thank you for mentioning WHY WE REMEMBER! I heard the author on a podcast earlier this month--I was reassured by his messages about not worrying so much about losing memories and embrace the fact that our brain is a useful filter--and I almost bought his book but then decided on another psychology title. I am going to reverse course, buy Rangananth's now, and add it to my huge Audible queue!
Thanks for your response. I really love Dr. Rangananth's book (checked my copy out of the library after waiting for-ever).
He's spreading the word that memory is not meant to be reliable, in the ways that the justice system in the United States, for example, expects it to be. Our memories are flawed, by design. It's normal to walk into the kitchen and forget why you're there.
The implications!
I wrote about this, a touch, in my September newsletter. Which is mostly about memory adjacent topics. Looking forward to your book...