There’s one approach to treating trauma that I’ve been hearing experts refer to more and more lately (in conversation, and also in a couple of recent workshops we’ve hosted).
It’s Coherence Therapy. But what exactly is that?
Well in short, it’s a framework designed to help clients overwrite conditioned emotional responses associated with traumatic memories.
Bruce Ecker, LMFT, together with colleagues Laurel Hulley, MA, and Robin Ticic, BA, HP Psychotherapy (Germany), drew heavily from memory reconsolidation research to develop the three-step process at the core of Coherence Therapy: reactivating a memory, generating a contradiction to the memory, then repeating that contradiction to install the new learning.
The idea is based on prior research suggesting that, when clients recall a stored memory, it can become “soft” or malleable for a brief period before resolidifying.
During that brief period, a therapist is able to introduce information that contradicts the original memory so that the brain might rewrite it.
And that process could potentially eliminate the emotional response attached to the memory.
But does this process work?
Bruce recently published a review of research on memory reconsolidation in the Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Disorders. Of 34 studies he reviewed, 20 were successful in eliminating fear memories while 14 others failed to achieve similar results.
In diving into the details of the studies, Bruce determined that the key difference between memory reconsolidation efforts that succeeded versus those that failed had to do with prediction error. He suggested that in order to trigger the memory-updating process, the brain needs to experience a genuine surprise or mismatch.
Bruce’s conclusion was that each of the failed studies had made the same mistake: none had properly generated the prediction error.
Now what I found especially interesting about this article was that it included a case study of just how this approach played out in the life of an actual client. (Spoiler alert: it was successful)
As I mentioned earlier, I believe that this approach could open up exciting new possibilities for clients who continue to suffer from the impact of painful trauma memories.
But as with any research, there are some potential caveats to keep in mind. First, it would be useful if the criteria for assessing prediction errors could be validated by further studies. Also, I’d be interested in seeing longitudinal studies of this intervention.
Still, I’m intrigued by what I’ve read so far.
That’s why I wanted to let you know that Bruce will be joining us soon for a live workshop where he’ll delve even more deeply into Coherence Therapy. Here’s where you can get all the details.
And if you’d like to read the full article for yourself, you can find it using the link below.
Now I’d like to hear from you: how could you use this approach in your work with clients? Please leave a comment below and let me know.
Personally, I have experienced the core principles of this and wrote about it in my undergraduate thesis. So, I believe it and know it to be true.
-Jessica Carhart