Can I do EMDR if I Don’t Have Memories?

Working with Unclear Memories in Resource Therapy and EMDR: Feelings, Sensations, and Finding the Right Part

Many people assume trauma therapy requires clear, factual memories. In reality, this is not how the brain stores overwhelming experiences. Traumatic material is often encoded in sensory fragments, body sensations, emotions, impulses, and states of being. It may not contain coherent narrative memory at all. It is also common for our early life experiences that impact us to occur in the most sensitive developmental period (age 0-3), before the development of explicit memories occurred.

Neurodivergent clients in particular may also lack concrete or explicit memory images, and this is often a concern they bring to therapy (especially if they have tried other therapies before). This is all quite normal in this therapeutic space. It is also entirely workable in therapy.

 As an aside, it may be interesting to know that I have even worked with clients who have developed traumatic responses to something that did not actually occur- and therefore there was no ‘real’ memory associated with it. This could be due to psychotic phenomena, or on one occasion, a fear based response to a ‘what if’ situation that did not transpire (an example would be having a minor car bingle, and developing a repeated intrusive thought about dying in the accident).

This is not the exact situation I worked with, but it highlights that a repeated thought became so strong that it was re-experienced, even without a memory attached.  

When Memories Are Not Clear

Clients frequently say:

• I do not remember what happened, but I feel it

• I only get a feeling in my stomach

• I have images, but they do not make sense - or I'm not sure if this even happened?

• I do not know why I react this way

Trauma researchers such as van der Kolk and Allan Schore have long emphasised that trauma is stored in subcortical networks rather than explicit story-based memory. Resource Therapy (advanced parts work) and EMDR both recognise this.

Bridging in Resource Therapy

One of my favourite aspects of Resource Therapy is that it allows us to work effectively even when memories are not explicit. We use what is called “bridging”. Bridging involves starting with the present sensation, emotion, or impulse, and allowing the mind to drift back to the origin point of that feeling.

The bridge is not forced. It is an invitation. Clients do not need to know what will arise. The body remembers what the conscious mind does not.

Bridging is ideal when:

• A client feels something strongly but does not understand why

• There is shame or confusion around reactions

• The memory network is implicit rather than explicit

• The client carries early developmental trauma

• The presenting issue is somatic rather than cognitive

The goal is not to retrieve perfect factual memory, but to locate the correct part of self holding the emotional experience.

Emotion and Sensation as Memory

A sensation can be a memory. A feeling of collapse, tightness, shaking, or fear can be the stored imprint of an experience the mind could not process at the time. Once the correct Resource (part or memory network) is accessed, therapy becomes more precise and compassionate.

When the part holding the distress is found, two things often happen:

1. The client finally feels understood, or understands their responses

2. The therapy becomes focused and effective even in the absense of memory images.

This precision is one of the reasons I love Resource Therapy. Instead of treating a generalised symptom, we work with the exact part that needs attention.

A client may describe a tightness in their chest with no memory attached. Through bridging, we reach a younger part (a neural pathway that developed in response to an event in childhood) who felt overwhelmed early in life. Even without a clear picture, the emotional truth or ‘response’ is accessed. Once the part is supported, understood, and provided with new adaptive information, the nervous system reorganises.

Therapy Without a Narrative

Trauma healing does not require a story or even a picture. It requires connection, attunement, and access to the internal state carrying the overwhelm. This is the essence of parts work- not changing or updating the memory itself.

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Details about Resource Therapy and Resource Therapy training can be found by clicking these hyperlinks.

Want to experience this therapy yourself? Check out my EMDR Immersions program here

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Claudia Wolf | AMHSW | Accredited EMDR | Advanced Clinical Resource Therapist & Trainer

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This blog is not a replacement for therapy or therapy training, and is for entertainment and educational purposes only. If these themes bring up any distress for you, please seek formal support.