Coherence Therapy is one way of working with the most recent neuroscience of memory reconsolidation. Coherence Therapy was created by Dr Bruce Ecker when he applied memory reconsolidation to the field of psychotherapy.

Memory reconsolidation is the brain’s ability to revisit and revise memory. Many of our psychological problems stem from significant life events when memory is laid down (consolidated) in the presence of strong emotions. In these moments we adopted unconscious programming about how the world works, and what life is like. Since this kind of memory is typically formed early in life, under highly specific circumstances and outside our awareness, in adulthood we are at a loss to explain why certain patterns do not resolve with insight or effort. Memory reconsolidation and Coherence Therapy offer a mechanism for the brain to destabilize existing memory and completely update it with a more reliable and accurate version of how the world works and what life is like.

You can learn more about Coherence Therapy and memory reconsolidation here: https://www.coherencetherapy.org/index.htmtem description

A session of Coherence Therapy is experiential, that means, you will be guided to experience your emotions, your thoughts and your physical reactions. You will also talk, of course, but the emphasis is not on thinking and answering questions. Experiential work is done to retrieve information that lies outside of your current thinking and knowledge (if you knew the solution, your brain would already have fixed it). Conventional talk therapy can only work with conscious memory networks and help you counter or modify your current thinking. Coherence Therapy assumes your current thinking is a perfectly coherent symptom for a problem you are solving that lies outside of your awareness.

Coherence Therapy can successfully work with any unwanted symptoms that arise out of significant emotional learning: low self-esteem, guilt, loss, anxiety, depression, addiction, psychosis, mood, erratic behavior, hyperactivity, codependency and insecure attachment. Coherence Therapy does not assume that all medical and psychological problems stem from emotional learning. It is not a substitute for medical treatment, crisis stabilization, trauma processing or behavioral change.

Coherence Therapy claims to help you through three markers: 1) symptom cessation-the symptom is gone and the behavior has stopped, 2) non-reactivation-the symptom cannot be re-triggered, and 3) effortless permanence-change does not require maintenance or practice. If it doesn’t meet these requirements, change was not “transformational.”

You are a good fit for Coherence Therapy is you have a problem or a symptom that bothers you, and you are hoping to learn why it is there and when it will go away. You are a good fit if you can respect the feelings that may come up in therapy. Coherence Therapy has a clear focus and sequential approach; this structure may not be a good fit for everyone. Coherence Therapy is a deep dive, and obviously not suitable when you are in a crisis or feel very fragile.