====== Start Here: A Reading Guide to the IEMT Wiki ======

This guide offers routes through the IEMT wiki for readers who want an introduction, a research overview or a deeper understanding of memory, emotion and therapeutic change. The pages can be read independently; the suggested sequences explain how the subjects connect.

The wiki contains descriptions of IEMT practice, accounts of other approaches, research summaries and background psychology. Those kinds of material serve different purposes. A description tells readers what a model proposes or how practitioners describe their work. An outcome study asks what happened under particular conditions. A proposed mechanism asks why a result occurred. Keeping those questions separate makes the whole resource easier to use.

===== If you are new to IEMT =====

Begin with [[iemt|Integral Eye Movement Technique]] for an overview, then read [[model|The IEMT Model]] for its working concepts and structure. Continue to [[iemt_emi_emdr_compared|IEMT, EMI and EMDR Compared]] to understand why related names and the shared use of eye movements do not make the approaches interchangeable.

For the state of the direct evidence, read [[iemt_research_evidence|IEMT Research Evidence]] and the focused account of the [[iemt_emdr_2026_study|2026 exploratory comparison of IEMT- and EMDR-directed eye movements]]. Read conclusions alongside the study's participants, comparator, outcome measures and follow-up period. An experimental result concerning one component should not silently become a claim about the entire model.

===== Memory, emotion and identity =====

The following six articles form a connected foundation. Reading them in this order moves from how personal experience is represented to how responses are learned, interpreted and repeatedly revisited.

  * [[autobiographical_memory_self|Autobiographical Memory and the Sense of Self]] — remembered events, personal knowledge, life narratives, specificity and confidence.
  * [[emotional_learning|Emotional Learning and Conditioned Responses]] — associations, generalisation, extinction, context and different response systems.
  * [[mental_imagery_emotion|Mental Imagery, Vividness and Emotional Response]] — sensory qualities, emotional impact, aphantasia and separate outcome dimensions.
  * [[self_referential_processing|Self-Referential Processing and Identity Statements]] — self-schemata, language, perspective and the scope of self-descriptions.
  * [[rumination_worry|Rumination, Worry and Repetitive Negative Thinking]] — the difference between a distressing representation and a recurring thinking process.
  * [[memory_reconsolidation|Memory Reconsolidation: Evidence and Limits]] — what a mechanistic claim requires and why memory change has more than one possible explanation.

For a basic vocabulary alongside this sequence, consult [[types_of_memory|Types of Memory]]. The [[pronouns|Pronouns]] and [[self_concept_scope_category|Self-Concept, Scope, and Category]] pages provide further context for the wiki's discussions of identity and language. The new research articles distinguish these model-related connections from evidence testing IEMT itself.

===== Understanding evidence and therapeutic change =====

Start with [[measuring_therapeutic_change|Measuring Therapeutic Change]] to distinguish distress, vividness and other outcomes. Then use the following pages to examine different explanations and standards of evidence.

  * [[expectancy_contextual_effects|Expectancy and Contextual Effects]] — how expectations and the setting may contribute to reported change.
  * [[common_factors_psychotherapy|Common Factors in Psychotherapy]] — influences shared across therapeutic approaches.
  * [[demand_characteristics_response_bias|Demand Characteristics and Response Bias]] — how questions and expectations can shape reports.
  * [[statistical_clinical_significance|Statistical and Clinical Significance]] — the distinction between statistical findings and meaningful benefit.
  * [[writing_interpreting_case_reports|Writing and Interpreting Case Reports]] — how to describe an individual outcome without exceeding the evidence.
  * [[maintenance_generalisation_return_symptoms|Maintenance, Generalisation and Return of Symptoms]] — what follow-up adds to an immediate session result.

These pages are especially useful when reading a striking case example. A case can illustrate experience and generate questions, while a controlled study addresses different questions about causation and comparative benefit.

===== Eye movements and proposed mechanisms =====

Read [[therapeutic_eye_movement_mechanisms|Mechanisms of Therapeutic Eye Movements]] alongside [[memory-taxation|Memory Taxation in Therapy]] and [[bilateral_stimulation_dual_attention|Bilateral Stimulation and Dual Attention]]. The [[adaptive_information_processing|Adaptive Information Processing]] page introduces a theoretical framework associated with EMDR.

Compare the process measured in an experiment with the procedure described in a therapy. Similar vocabulary is a reason to investigate a connection, rather than sufficient evidence that the same mechanism explains both. The reconsolidation article above develops this point through specific research examples.

===== Practice, formulation and review =====

Readers interested in the wiki's practice framework can move from [[adapt|IEMT: An Adaptive Model]] to [[adaptive_formulation|Adaptive Formulation and Outcome Review]], [[treatment_plans|IEMT Treatment Plans]] and [[worked_examples|Worked Examples: Assessment, Planning and Review]]. Read these alongside [[medical_ethics|Medical Ethics]] and [[iatrogenesis|Iatrogenesis]] when considering competence, consent and unwanted effects. Professional training information is available at [[training|Route to IEMT Practitioner Certification]].

These routes support informed reading; they do not replace training, supervision or an assessment of an individual's needs. Where an example is fictional, its purpose is explanation. It should not be mistaken for a reported research participant or evidence that an intervention works.

===== Clinical decision making and responsible practice =====

These six adult-focused reference articles connect research appraisal with consent, assessment and professional responsibilities. They distinguish current guidance, empirical findings, specialist consensus and editorial examples. Sources were checked on 8 October 2026; the articles have not undergone independent clinical peer review.

  * [[informed_consent_shared_decision_making|Informed Consent and Shared Decision-Making]] — options, uncertainty, capacity, communication and continuing consent.
  * [[assessment_suitability_referral|Assessment, Suitability and Referral]] — screening, diagnosis, formulation, service suitability and continuity of care.
  * [[dissociation_depersonalisation_derealisation|Dissociation, Depersonalisation and Derealisation]] — clinical distinctions, assessment and the limits of treatment research.
  * [[stabilisation_grounding_therapeutic_pacing|Stabilisation, Grounding and Therapeutic Pacing]] — preparation, grounding and evidence about treatment sequence.
  * [[adverse_effects_deterioration_non_response|Adverse Effects, Deterioration and Non-Response]] — definitions, monitoring, causal uncertainty and review.
  * [[therapeutic_boundaries_scope_competence|Therapeutic Boundaries and Scope of Competence]] — qualifications, professional obligations, boundaries and accountability.

Begin with consent and assessment, then use the other articles to explore a particular decision. Professional codes apply to their own registrants and jurisdictions; evidence for another therapy does not automatically validate IEMT.

===== How to follow a reference =====

When a claim matters, open its cited source and check what was actually studied. Distinguish a review from a single experiment, a laboratory task from a clinical treatment and an abstract from a complete paper. Look for corrections, limitations, the comparison condition and the length of follow-up. Brief quotations retain their original authorship; surrounding wiki explanation should not be mistaken for an extract from the source.

For the broader directory, return to [[iemt_wiki|The IEMT Wiki introduction and current pages]]. This guide is an editorial reading map, reviewed on 8 October 2026, rather than an exhaustive or formally graded clinical guideline.

===== See also =====

  * [[iemt_wiki|The IEMT Wiki]]
  * [[iemt|Integral Eye Movement Technique]]
  * [[model|The IEMT Model]]
  * [[iemt_research_evidence|IEMT Research Evidence]]