An additional thought re effective use of bi-lateral stimulation

The following is not for Brian--who is what Bricklin refers to as an 'MMU', i.e., the child in the custody evaluation who is stuck in the 'mind-made-up' position and whose reports are manipulation toward a private agenda--rather, this is for those who are interested in the question of what EMDR actualy is (if anything!) that is different from other therapies, such as CBT or psychodynamic tx., how EMDR might work, and what it might help us understand regarding mind/brain/body functioning.

I am not at all surprised to see that EMDR, and most specifically the bi-lateral stimulation portion of EMDR, is not effective in the situation discribed in the article above. In actual fact, I am reassured. IF EMDR, and specifically bilateral stimulation, does deal with processing dysfunctionally stored memories, then the second-level, more generalized learning type of symptoms should not be a point from which change can be made. In that sort of secondary symptom level, I believe it is the other components of EMDR, which are smiilar to and/or adaptations of CBT and psychodynamic therapy, which are helpful--possibly with the addition of the relaxation response paired with the fearful stimulus. While this is valuable, it's not the exciting, even breathtaking, part of EMDR.
The times I see EMDR do what nothing else I have witnessed or experienced does is when the patient is actualy dealing with primary, dysfunctionally input-ed traumatic memories. These appear to be the the experiences which-for whatever reason-were transmitted directly from the visual and/or auditory cortex in to the amygdala (see LeDoux's work, especially Emotional memory and psychopathology, Phil. Trans. R Soc Lond. 1997; and The role of the amygdala in fear and anxiety, Annu Rev. Neurosci. 1992. Uri Bergmann is also doing work on specific neurological pathways and information processing.)
I believe that when EMDR is uniquly EMDR, it works to re-process these physiologically dysfunctionally stored memories. When we work on second level, generalized learning, we don't access or reprocess the primary stored memory. (It may be possible from that position to 'back-up' to them, I am not sure..)
I believe the bi-lateral component of EMDR to be a link to, an interaction between, "mind" and very specific "body" processes. If those specific processes are not accessed, EMDR--as EMDR, not as a more general form of therapy--can't be applied. I suspect the brains' REM function, it's importance in the sleep cycle, it's place as "chosen" when sleep is lost, also points to the psycho-biological information processing necessity.
(I have found no way to spell check these submissions, and in my own defense remind you of the research which suggests that spelling ability and intelligence are not positively correlated!)

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