Much of our subjective experience is determined by the activity of unconscious mental models that describe, predict, and monitor what they simulate. The study of our subjective experience falls under what philosophers call phenomenology. Phenomenal Modeling is an EMDR method I developed to help my clients and I collaboratively piece together their case formulation. A case formulation is a crucial part of EMDR and in BPS-AIP it helps clients evaluate unconscious mental models of self that are part of traumatization. This is an important initial step in the 8 phases of EMDR because our mental models shape how we connect in therapy! That is to say, the therapeutic relationship is directly responsible for positive trauma processing effects.

In this installment #2 of The Science of Connection in a Disconnected World, I’ll be exploring the central role that attention plays in the Biopsychosocial-AIP Model of EMDR. We will focus on the theory I introduced in my 2012 paper that states that adaptive information processing is the apex of the attachment system. The best model for psychotherapy is the securely attached child and caregiver. After a decade of being inspired by the application of these ideas, I proposed in 2022 that trauma is best defined as an absence of attentional agency. I believe we innately fear not being attended to and that much of the work of psychotherapy can be organized best by taking this into account. We will look into why attention may be the most important resource involved in human information processing and why being able to process information of all sorts is a life or death matter.

In this first installment of the “Science of Connection in a Disconnected World”, we will explore how the brain, self, and interpersonal relationships form an umwelt. An umwelt is the world of any organism as it is experienced by it. The inspiration for this piece comes from the non-fiction science writing of Ed Jong. You can read more about umwelten in his book “An Immense World”. We are all having an experience of the world that is unique to our individual set of senses that inform our behavior. Just as a spider uses its web to sense and feel the world around it, we use our web of social relationships. We don’t need to buy any special gear or achieve any great feat to connect with each other. Like the spider, we have the innate capacity to create a web of connection that will bring us what we need to thrive.

This blog series is dedicated to exploring the relationship between our biopsychosocial health and the information processing resources we are endowed with. This time around, I will give examples how sensing, feeling, and moving is at the core of what we share with all life forms. I will also highlight how attention in all it’s varieties, is a central resource that any psychotherapist and client will want to appreciate. I’ll use examples from many areas of science and now and again specifically feature applications of the LEIP perspective and BPS-AIP to my practice of Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.