INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NEUROPSYCHOTHERAPY Volume 6 Issue 1 (2018) 1 methodology Clinical Translation of Memory Reconsolidation Research: Therapeutic Methodology for Transformational Change by Erasing Implicit Emotional Learnings Driving Symptom Production Bruce Ecker Abstract Afer 20 years of laboratory study of memory reconsolidation, the translation of research fndings into clinical application has recently been the topic of a rapidly growing number of review articles. Te present article iden- tifes previously unrecognized possibilities for efective clinical translation by examining research fndings from the experience-oriented viewpoint of the clinician. It is well established that destabilization of a target learning and its erasure (robust functional disappearance) by behavioral updating are experience-driven processes. By interpreting the research in terms of internal experiences required by the brain, rather than in terms of external laboratory procedures, a clinical methodology of updating and erasure unambiguously emerges, with promising properties: It is applicable for any symptom generated by emotional learning and memory, it is readily adapt- ed to the unique target material of each therapy client, and it has extensive corroboration in existing clinical literature, including cessation of a wide range of symptoms and verifcation of erasure using the same markers relied upon by laboratory researchers. Two case vignettes illustrate clinical implementation and show erasure of lifelong, complex, intense emotional learnings and full, lasting cessation of major long-term symptoms. Te experience-oriented framework also provides a new interpretation of the laboratory erasure procedure known as post-retrieval extinction, indicating limited clinical applicability and explaining for the frst time why, even with reversal of the protocol (post-extinction retrieval), reconsolidation and erasure still occur. Also discussed are signifcant ramifcations for the clinical feld’s “corrective experiences” paradigm, for psychotherapy integration, and for establishing that specifc factors can produce extreme therapeutic efectiveness. Author information: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Bruce Ecker: Coherence Psychology Institute, 319 Lafay- ette St # 253, New York NY 10012 USA. Email: bruce.ecker@coherenceinstitute.org Cite as: Ecker, B. (2018). Clinical translation of memory reconsolidation research: Terapeutic methodology for transformational change by erasing implicit emotional learnings driving symptom production. Interna- tional Journal of Neuropsychotherapy, 6(1), 1–92. doi: 10.12744/ijnpt.2018.0001-0092 KEYWORDS: Memory reconsolidation, clinical translation, destabilization, psychotherapy, memory erasure, behavioral updating, memory interference, emotional schema, transformational change, unlearning, specifc factors, reactivation-extinction, retrieval-extinction, corrective experiences Submitted: January 19, 2018. Accepted for publication: January 29, 2018 Published online: June 7, 2018