ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an overview of relevant neuroscience research that suggests that a state of normal brain development exists to which the human mind resorts as a compromise in its effort to survive traumatic events. It describes the process of developing and maintaining the regulation of affect under different circumstances, including stress stemming from everyday life or as a result of major trauma. The chapter emphasizes the development of neuro-networks and the unfolding of outcomes due to trauma, be it a big T trauma or relational small t trauma. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) capitalizes on the notion that the therapeutic environment can be both an emotion-enhancing and an emotion-inhibiting process. Conflicting internal and external demands can lead to confused reactions and doubt about the self. Memory arises from alterations of synaptic efficacies in global mapping as a result of the facilitation of particular categorizations or of motor patterns.
