Adaptive information processing (AIP) model: The theoretical model developed by Francine Shapiro to explain the observed effects of standard EMDR.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE): The ACE study showed that traumatic experiences during childhood and adolescence are more common than expected and they lead to a high rate of adverse adult outcomes.

Agency: Knowing that you have an ability to be in charge of yourself and to influence your life.

Alexithymia: Difficulty identifying and describing emotions to other people.

Amygdala: The amygdala are 2 small almond shaped structures in the brain that are involved in detecting danger and they are involved in storing traumatic memories.

Anxiety: Is the body’s natural response to stress. It is a feeling of fear about what is going to happen. Anxiety is often a normal response to stress but sometimes people develop an anxiety disorder characterised by fear, increase heart rate, rapid breathing, restlessness, trouble concentrating, difficulty falling asleep and excessive worry.

Attachment: A biologically driven need for connection with other human beings that begins in infancy and continues throughout life.

Autonomic arousal: The activation of the autonomic nervous system.

Autonomic nervous system: The part of the nervous system responsible for body functions including heart rate, digestion and breathing that are not under conscious control. It consists of the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Bilateral stimulation (BLS): The use of alternating, left to right neutral sensory stimulation either with eye movements or gentle kinesthetic or auditory stimulation during EMDR therapy.

Boundary: The emotional and physical need for protection or physical distance from others and the sense that we have a right to our personal preferences, emotions, thoughts and opinions.

Central executive network: A brain network involved in manipulating information in working memory and it is responsible for decision-making and problem-solving in the pursuit of goals. It is activated during cognitively and emotionally challenging activities.

Centring resource: The physical resource of being aware of the core of your body in order to regulate activation and to regain a sense of being connected to ourselves when we’re distressed.

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT): Is a type of psychotherapy to help people identify and change unhelpful or unhealthy ways of thinking, feeling and behaving.

Complex PTSD: A term proposed by Judith Herman to describe the symptoms that follow prolonged, repeated trauma. Complex PTSD is defined in the ICD 11 as PTSD (reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, hyperarousal, negative alterations in cognitions and mood) and 3 additional symptoms (emotional regulation difficulties, disturbances in relational capacities and negative belief systems).

Complex trauma: Prolonged, repeated, severe, interpersonal trauma.

Containment resources: A physical resource that helps us sense the physical container of our bodies including our skin and muscles.

Core (of the body): Refers to the spine and surrounding muscles.

Declarative memory: Memories that can consciously be recalled and includes episodic or autobiographical memory and semantic memory. It includes facts and knowledge.

Default mode network: Is a brain region activated at rest and during mind-wandering or during self-reflective thought. It is thought to be involved in autobiographical memory processes and self-referential processing.

Depression: Depression ranges from mild, temporary episodes of sadness to severe, persistent depression. Clinical depression is often diagnosed using the DSM-V. Common symptoms include sadness, tearfulness, anger, irritability, interpersonal withdrawal, sleep disturbances, lethargy, reduced appetite and weight changes, poor memory and concentration, slowed thinking, low self-esteem, unexplained physical problems and suicidal thoughts.

DESNOS: Disorders of extreme stress not otherwise specified is not a DSM 5 diagnosis but it consists of symptoms in 6 areas including (a) regulation of affect and impulses; (b) attention or consciousness; (c) self-perception; (d) relations with others; (e) somatisation; and (f) systems of meaning. It is sometimes used synonymously with the term complex PTSD.

Dissociation: Dissociation is central to trauma and it involves involuntarily compartmentalising parts of an experience including emotions, sounds, images, thoughts and physical sensations. They then stored separately in the nervous system to other experiences.

DSM 5: The fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual published by the American Psychiatric Association to define psychiatric disorders.

Dual awareness: A state where we can be aware of a specific memory while also being aware of the present moment.

Electroencephalogram (EEG): Is a medical test to measure the electrical activity of your brain. It can be used to diagnosed conditions and to treat conditions such as PTSD.

Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR): Is a therapy strongly recommended by a number of international guidelines for treating trauma related symptoms. It was developed by Francine Shapiro and it facilitates processing and reintegration of traumatic emotions, images and memories. Unlike many contemporary forms of psychotherapy, EMDR stimulates the brains intrinsic capacity for adaptive information processing.

Embody: To understand or know something through experience rather than through reflection, analysis or through thinking.

Empathy: Is the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicarious Lee experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experience of another person.

Episodic memory: The memory of autobiographical events (times; places; associated emotions; and other contextual who, what, when, where, why knowledge) that can be explicitly expressed. It is 1 of the 2 types of declarative or explicit memory.

Explicit memory (or declarative memory): See declarative memory.

External resources: Sources of support outside of yourself such as other people and nature.

Felt sense: Is a term was initially used by Eugene Gendlin and it is a bodily awareness of a situation or person or event. It is the awareness we have in our body that gives us an overall sense of what we are experiencing.

Fight: Mobilising an animal defence involving moving toward a source of threat with aggression.

Flight: Mobilising an animal defence involving moving away from a source of threat.

Freeze: An immobilising animal defence that includes an inability to move coupled with hyperarousal.

Grounding: A physical experience that leads to the felt sense of support and connection to the ground.

Hippocampus: Is the part of the brain primarily associated with memory. It is located in the temporal lobe and forms part of the limbic system. It is thought to be involved in storing long-term memory is.

Hyperarousal: Being over activated leading to a person to be over the upper edge of the window of tolerance. It is associated with intense agitation, trembling, rapid heart rate or overwhelming emotions such as rage, terror or panic.

Hypoarousal: Activation that is excessively low and under the lower edge of the window of tolerance and associated with an inability to move, heaviness, numbness or emotions like despair, hopelessness or an absence of feelings.

ICD: International classification of diseases.

Implicit memory: Non-verbal memories that include physical and emotional components. It is acquired and used unconsciously, and can affect thoughts and behaviours. One of its most common forms is procedural memory.

Internal family systems: Was developed by Richard Schwartz who highlighted that the mind of each of this is like a family in which there are different members with different levels of maturity, excitability, wisdom and pain. The parts form a system in which change in any one part and affect all the others.

Internal resources: Capacities that reside within us that help us regulate arousal and to cope.

Intersubjectivity: Is the bidirectional communication between 2 beings that are treated as subjects rather than objects.

Interoception: It is our awareness of what is going on in our body.

Left brain: The left brain is dominant for language and it is concerned with what is selective, organised, static and mechanistic. The left brain’s attention is focused and it prefers certainty.

Memory network: Francine Shapiro described how information is stored in memory as an image, thought, sound, physical sensations, emotion and beliefs. Andrew Leeds suggested that urges are also stored in the memory network.

Mindful self-compassion (MSC): Is a hybrid of mindfulness and compassion, with an emphasis on self-compassion. The MSC training program was developed by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer.

Mindfulness: John Kabat-Zinn described mindfulness as paying attention on purpose to the present moment in a non-judgemental way. Mindfulness involves being curiously aware.

Neuroception: A process that occurs outside of awareness that automatically assesses cues and gives an impression on the degree of safety, danger, and threat.

Neurofeedback: Is a form of biofeedback, which teaches people to be able to control brain functions by measuring brainwaves and providing feedback.

Neuroplasticity: The ability of the brain to form and reorganise connections, especially in response to learning or experience.

Neural networks: Network or circuit of neurons that connect a brain region with another for a common purpose.

Non-declarative memory: It has also been called implicit and procedural memory and it refers to unconscious memories such as the skills for riding a bike or tying shoelaces.

Object: An object can be a living being but rather than being empathically attuned to them, we project material onto them from our inner world. Object relations theory refers to us having images of others in our internal world and these are called objects.

Orienting response: Is the “what is it?” reflex. It involves looking with your eyes and it has 2 phases; the first is when there is a novel stimulus in the environment and there is increased sympathetic tone; the second involves habituation when there is no threat of danger and this is accompanied by increased parasympathetic tone.

Parasympathetic nervous system: Is 1 of the divisions of the autonomic nervous system and it is responsible for stimulating the “rest and digestive” mode when the body is at rest.

Parts (of self): A term used to describe states of mind or aspects of the personality. Different parts may hold different core beliefs, emotional biases, and procedural tendencies that are not integrated. Parts are important in Schema Therapy and in Internal Family Systems.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Is a mental disorder triggered by a traumatic event. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event. Avoidance is a common PTSD symptom. There are negative changes in thinking and mood.

Poly vagal theory: Developed by Dr Stephen Porges proposes 2 distinct branches of the vagus nerve. The first is the ventral vagal branch that mediates immobilisation behaviours. The second is the more recently evolved dorsovagal branch linked to social communication and self-soothing behaviours.

Prefrontal cortex: Is a part of the brain located at the front and it is involved in planning, attention, predicting the consequences of one’s actions, impulse control and coordinating complex behaviour.

Prolonged exposure: Prolonged exposure is based on flooding people with traumatic memories and it is based on the principal of extinction.

Right brain: The right side of the brain has greater integrating power than the left and it is mainly concerned with living creatures. It is deeply connected to the embodied self. The right brain is empathic and its attention is caring. It acknowledges intersubjectivity. It has an open and flexible attention. It sees things whole and in context. It is comfortable with uncertainty.

Safety: Being free from the threat of harm or injury.

Salience network: Is involved in the detection and evaluation of motivationally salient stimuli and in controlling interactions between the default mode network and the central executive network.

Semantic memory: General word knowledge of facts, ideas, meaning, and concepts. It is 1 of the 2 types of declarative or explicit memory.

Social engagement system: Set of brain circuits that stimulates engagement with the environment and other human beings through our facial expressions, eye movements, vocalising and head movements. It is most accessible when we feel safe.

Somatic: Having to do with the body.

Somatic experiencing: Is a body-based therapy developed by Peter Levine to address trauma related symptoms.

Somatic resources: Resources that reside within the body including physical functions and capacities that provide a sense of well-being and competency.

Sympathetic nervous system: Is 1 of the divisions of the autonomic nervous system and it stimulates the body is fight or flight response.

Trauma: An overwhelming and deeply distressing or disturbing experience that cannot be integrated. It is likely to trigger hyper or hypoarousal and primitive defences.

Trauma-sensitive mindfulness: A term used by David Treleaven meaning we have a basic understanding of trauma in the context of mindfulness practice. It involves committing to recognising trauma, responding to it skilfully and taking steps to ensure that people aren’t retraumatising themselves during mindfulness practice.

Trauma sensitive yoga: Trauma sensitive yoga is an empirically validated, clinical intervention for people affected by complex trauma. It is based on hatha yoga, but the elements are modified to optimise experiences of empowerment and to help people cultivate a more positive relationship to their body. It encourages people to be in charge of themselves based on a felt sense of their own body.

Window of tolerance: A term referred to by Dan Siegel as being a zone of optimal arousal within which we can adaptively and flexibly process thoughts, emotions and physical reactions, without becoming overwhelmed.