Mapping a Self-System

Memory mapping is a process familiar to EMDR practitioners as a means of identifying dysfunctionally stored memories, which have formed linkages based on common elements. These elements include components of five-sense perception, emotion, inner-body sensation, and negatively valenced cognitions, and even time, if we consider that the components may link past, present, and anticipated future experiences. In the treatment of clients with severe dissociation, mapping must account for memories whose elements may be distributed in a fragmented fashion, among different self-states. This chapter will discuss the context for mapping with increasingly complex trauma in EMDR therapy practice. Definitions and history of the practice of mapping as it relates to dissociation will be touched upon. This will open the door to clarify basic procedures for mapping and discuss additional approaches to accommodate different practitioner styles and client capacities. Several considerations inform the mapping process itself, and these will be explored. The chapter will conclude with an illustrated case example, which will begin with indicators of potentially high-risk self-state activity noted in a client&s;s diagnostic results, progress to initial mapping, and illustrate a process of deeper inquiry to identify the more deeply embedded sources of that risk.