Therapy Advice – Australia Resource Therapy Institute

May 6, 2025

Unlocking Healing Through Memory Reconsolidation: The Power of Resource Therapy

MemoryreconsolidationwithResourceTherapytheanswer

Memory reconsolidation is a groundbreaking concept in neuroscience that has transformative implications for psychotherapy. It refers to the process where reactivated memories temporarily become malleable, allowing them to be modified before being stored again. This phenomenon offers a unique opportunity to rewrite maladaptive emotional responses tied to distressing memories. Resource Therapy (RT) seamlessly integrates memory reconsolidation principles through techniques such as Vaded State work and the Empowerment Protocol, delivering profound benefits for clients and therapists alike.

What is Memory Reconsolidation?

Memory reconsolidation occurs when a previously stored memory is reactivated, providing a brief window for emotional and cognitive updates. Research shows that this process can replace old, maladaptive memories with new, adaptive ones when specific steps are followed. For therapy, this means that instead of simply managing symptoms, we can address the root cause of psychological distress by altering the original emotional encoding of traumatic events.

The Resource Therapy Approach

Resource Therapy, developed by Professor Gordon Emmerson, provides a structured framework for working with personality parts, or ‘Resources’. These Resources can carry unresolved emotional burdens from past experiences. The key Resource Therapy techniques – Vaded State work a.k.a the Empowerment Protocol – are especially effective in utilising memory reconsolidation principles.

Vaded States – Addressing Distressed Parts

Vaded States are personality parts overwhelmed by negative emotions such as shame, fear or rejection. These states often stem from traumatic or unmet needs in the past. When a Vaded State is activated, individuals may experience intense emotional reactions, avoidance or maladaptive coping mechanisms.

In therapy, identifying and addressing Vaded States directly is crucial. By working with these distressed parts, therapists can help clients process unresolved emotions, facilitating healing at a deep, foundational level.

The Empowerment Protocol – Transforming Distress into Resilience

The Empowerment Protocol is a step-by-step method for working with Vaded States holding unprocessed fear or rejection to enable memory reconsolidation. It consists of the following stages:

Activation to Access the Distressed Resource
The therapist identifies and brings forth the specific part of the personality associated with the distressing memory. This step allows the client to focus on the emotions and thoughts tied to the original experience.
Bridging to the Originating Event
Using techniques like ‘Vivify Specific’, the client is guided to connect with the sensory and emotional aspects of the original event. This is a critical step as it activates the neural network associated with the memory.
Empowerment Attachment, Repair and Reprocessing
In this stage, the therapist helps the distressed part express its unmet needs. Other internal resources are brought forward to provide support, enabling the client to experience the memory in a new, more positive way. We find a nurturing resource, a part of the clients internal system to care and share kindness with deep compassion.
Integration and Reconsolidation
The newly reprocessed memory is integrated into the client’s emotional framework. This ensures that the distressing memory is reconsolidated with adaptive emotional responses, effectively transforming its impact on the individual.

Why Memory Reconsolidation Matters for Clients

Clients struggling with PTSD, anxiety, depression or unresolved trauma often feel trapped in cycles of distress. Memory reconsolidation offers a way out by fundamentally changing the way they relate to past experiences.

Relief from Triggers – By addressing the emotional root of a traumatic memory, clients can experience lasting relief from triggers that previously caused distress.
Empowerment – The process of working with distressed parts helps clients feel in control of their healing journey. They gain confidence in their ability to address and transform difficult emotions.
Improved Relationships – Unresolved trauma often impacts interpersonal relationships. By healing these wounds, clients can connect with others more authentically and without the barriers created by their past.

Why Memory Reconsolidation Matters for Therapists

For therapists, understanding and applying memory reconsolidation is a game-changer. It allows them to work more effectively, delivering results that are not only significant but also enduring.

Deeper healing – Memory reconsolidation targets the root cause of distress, offering clients a path to lasting change rather than symptom management.
Evidence-based practice – Numerous studies support the effectiveness of memory reconsolidation in treating conditions like PTSD, phobias, and anxiety disorders. For example, Ecker et al. (2012) demonstrated the utility of reconsolidation in dismantling traumatic emotional learnings.
Professional growth – Resource Therapy provides a clear, structured framework for engaging clients in transformative work. Therapists trained in these techniques can expand their skill set and confidence in treating complex cases.

Evidence Supporting Memory Reconsolidation and Resource Therapy

Research underscores the effectiveness of memory reconsolidation in transforming maladaptive emotional responses. A key study by Monfils et al. (2009) demonstrated how reconsolidation can reduce conditioned fear responses in a laboratory setting. This evidence has profound implications for therapy, where similar mechanisms can be applied to address trauma and anxiety.

Resource Therapy aligns seamlessly with these findings. By directly engaging the emotional and sensory components of memories, RT ensures that reconsolidation occurs in a targeted, therapeutic context. Anecdotal evidence from therapists worldwide highlights the efficacy of the Empowerment Protocol in bringing about lasting change for clients.

Practical Applications for Clients and Therapists

The integration of memory reconsolidation into Resource Therapy is not just a theoretical concept – it is a practical, actionable approach with tangible benefits.

For Clients – If you have struggled with trauma, anxiety or feelings of being stuck, Resource Therapy offers a way to heal deeply and effectively. By addressing the specific parts of your personality tied to distressing memories, you can experience a newfound sense of peace and empowerment.
For Therapists, incorporating Resource Therapy into your practice can enhance your ability to facilitate transformative healing. RT’s structured techniques make it accessible and effective, whether you are working with trauma, relationship issues, or personal growth.

Memory reconsolidation is a revolutionary concept that has redefined what is possible in psychotherapy. By integrating this neuroscience-backed process into Resource Therapy through techniques like Vaded State work and the Empowerment Protocol, clients can achieve lasting transformation and see profound results.

For both clients and therapists, the promise of memory reconsolidation is clear: it offers a path to healing that not only addresses symptoms but redefines how we relate to our past, paving the way for a brighter, healthier future.

References

Ecker, B., Ticic, R., & Hulley, L. (2012). Unlocking the emotional brain: Eliminating symptoms at their roots using memory reconsolidation. Routledge.

Emmerson, G. (2012). Healthy parts, happy self: 3 steps to like yourself. Emmerson Psychology Press.

Monfils, M. H., Cowansage, K. K., Klann, E., & LeDoux, J. E. (2009). Extinction–reconsolidation boundaries: Key to persistent attenuation of fear memories. Science, 324(5929), 951 – 955. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1167975

Nader, K., & Hardt, O. (2009). A single standard for memory: The case for reconsolidation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(3), 224 – 234. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2590

September 17, 2019September 16, 2019

Emotional Pain & Stuckness suck…

Sadness honours our loss. Stuckness doesn't.

Over the years most of us have had to deal with the pain of grief and loss. It’s a sad and necessary part of life. When the leaving is unexpected, like in the bereavement of suicide or accident, or ending of a significant relationship it’s painful and difficult to compute this tragic loss.

Grief can lay us flat, set in stuckness if left unprocessed in our emotional brain. — Grief can lay us flat, set in stuckness

Yet there are often so many unspoken sentiments, love shared, conversations unexpressed.

Guilt and rumination are common side effects of those bereaved by suicide. Resource Therapy heals with it's Closure Conversation. — Guilt and rumination are common side effects of those bereaved by suicide. Resource Therapy heals with it’s Closure Conversation.

After losing my Uncle to suicide in my teens, I struggled with so many unanswered questions. I was angry, hurt and felt betrayed. Guilt and a sense of over-responsibility plagued me in the quiet of night. It would come and go, sending me low.

I imagined what I could of said, did to stop him from hurting himself. Of course life carried on but there was a huge gap my teen age self felt keenly over the years.

When love wilts it's hard to deal with our feelings of loss

Grief is a wonderful expression of the love for the loss of our loved ones or the ending of something special. This felt heavier.

As you will see on my video, a Resource Therapy session relieved me of the unresolved emotional burden. I was freed from my resentment towards my father, the abandonment of my Uncle.

It was the AHA understanding from an emotional perspective which changed my inner landscape.

Intellectually as both a person and a mental health professional I ‘knew’ he was suffering from a dark depression.

This emotional freedom and release I experienced sold me on the power of Resource Therapy in healing.

I had years of therapy! At great cost. Yet in this one session I gained emotional closure and inner peace. Free too as I was a client volunteer!

There are many treatments and therapies offering wonderfully supportive grief and loss processing.

Resource Therapy is the one I use with amazing effect. Long held hurt is released in the therapy hour. Guilt and shame replaced with love, acceptance and personal peace.

Personal peace from loss cannot be underestimated. Find freedom today with Resource Therapist in your area.

There are clearly defined steps to have what I call ‘Closure Conversations.’ Here we apply the Resource Therapy steps to address and process burdensome grief, shift shame, and let go of guilt.

These sessions I have are some of the most moving and heartfelt therapy I have been privileged to facilitate.

Here’s the latest from the Resource Therapy Institute Australia YouTube Channel – on Closure Conversations. Please see below and I would love it if you would be so kind to like, subscribe and help!

We are having our last training for the year Nov 4 & 5 in Sydney. Details here https://resourcetherapy.com.au/resource-therapy-foundation-training-online-philipa-thornton-sydney/

September 3, 2019September 3, 2019

Introducing the Somatic Bridge for Trauma Therapists and Specialists.

Bridging to the Initial Sensitising Event is crucial to emotional processing the root cause of clients anxiety. The somatic bridge offers a new way for Resource Therapists to access the Part who is in need.

Bridging is a essential element of emotional processing necessary for treating Post traumatic stress, underlying anxieties. These Parts are the ones when at the helm bring with them overwhelm, anxiety and feelings low self worth.

Healing the origins of our pain, allows us to live our highest potential.

Integral to healing is finding the root cause of the issue. Resource Therapists apply Action step 2 the Vivify Specific protocol. RT Action step 2 gets the part we need to be working with out in the conscious. Out on deck for us to facilitate access to the original sensitizing event.

I have recorded a 3 part series of a new option for bridging. Bridging is an essential part of the Resource Therapy Vaded State Protocol. These Resource Therapy Actions are at the heart of healing PTSD, anxiety, phobias, poor self esteem for clients and ourselves. When we reach the Initial Sensitizing Event (I.S.E), we have floated back to the original trauma. As we know when we knock out the roots of the tree it dies out.

What this means for trauma if we get to the earliest event, empower and heal the Part with the issue it is resolved. This Resource part no longer needs to act out or has overwhelming emotions from this past. It is returned to a state of health and well-being.

We know this from the research and work of Bessel Van De Kolk; Pat Ogden, Janina Fisher and Peter Levine.

Please watch all three parts for the complete picture. I need your help as I haven’t quite decided on a name yet.

What would you call this bridging technique – the Somatic bridge, the Sensorimotor bridge or other bridge?

Thanks for again for completing the whole three videos and please share to others who would be interested in Resource Therapy and it’s uses in treating trauma effectively.

Here is the YouTube Channel of Resource Therapy please subscribe.