If you were trained in EMDR, you learned to run sets of bilateral stimulation while your client holds a target memory in mind. But why does that combination seem to soften a memory? The leading explanation is about working memory, and understanding it helps you make deliberate choices during a session, especially remotely.
What the working-memory theory says
Working memory is the small, temporary mental workspace you use to hold and manipulate information for a few seconds at a time. It has limited capacity. When you ask a client to keep a distressing image in mind and, at the same time, track a moving dot, both tasks compete for that same limited space.
The dual-task account of EMDR proposes that this competition is the active ingredient. Holding the memory takes effort; tracking the dot takes effort. When the two run together, the memory is recalled with fewer resources available to it, and it tends to come back less vivid and less emotionally charged.
This idea grew out of experimental work by Andrade, Kavanagh, and Baddeley (1997), who found that performing eye movements while recalling an image reduced the image’s vividness and emotional intensity. Later reviews, such as van den Hout and Engelhard’s overview of how EMDR works, treat working-memory taxation as the best-supported explanation for the effect.
A theory, not settled fact
The working-memory account is the leading explanation, and it has held up well in experiments. But it is still a theory, and researchers continue to debate the mechanisms behind EMDR. Treat it as a useful working model that informs your clinical choices, not as a final answer. Your EMDR training and protocol come first.
Why “just enough” load is the goal
One practical takeaway from the theory is that the secondary task needs to be demanding enough to compete for working memory, but not so demanding that the client loses contact with the memory altogether.
If the task is too easy, there is little competition, and you may see little change. If it is too hard, the client can drop the target memory entirely to cope with the task, which also stalls processing. The useful zone sits in between: the client can still hold the memory, but it takes real effort to do both at once.
This is why the amount of load is something you adjust, rather than set once. You are looking for a level where the client stays engaged and reports gradual change between sets. Reassessment and check-ins from your standard protocol tell you whether you are in that zone.
Practical ways to increase working-memory load remotely
Remote sessions do not change the theory, but they do change your toolkit. When you run CloudEMDR over a video call, everything the client experiences comes through their screen and speakers, so the levers you have are visual, auditory, and, with some techniques, verbal. If you are new to the remote format, our guide on getting started with remote EMDR therapy is a good primer.
Here are the main ways to add load.
Adjust speed and size
The most direct lever is the moving dot itself. A faster dot demands more continuous tracking, which raises the tracking cost. The size slider changes how much visual attention the dot commands. Small, deliberate adjustments during a set let you tune the effort without interrupting the flow. You can see exactly where these controls live in our controls guide.
Vary the movement pattern
A predictable, linear sweep is easy to track after a while because the eyes learn the rhythm. Switching to a less predictable pattern forces the visual system to keep working rather than settling into autopilot. The free version offers linear and 8-shape movement; CloudEMDR Pro adds random, diamond, and diagonal patterns, which give you more ways to keep the task fresh within a session.
Add bilateral sound
Layering audio on top of the visual dot recruits another channel. When a client tracks the dot and hears an alternating tone, both the visual and auditory systems are engaged, which increases the total load. We cover this in more detail in our article on bilateral sound in EMDR. The free version includes one sound; Pro includes five, so you can vary the tone across clients and sessions.
Change the dot’s appearance
Dot styles are not just cosmetic. A color-changing dot asks the client to process a shifting stimulus, not just a fixed point, which adds a small extra demand. Pro includes grey, color-changing, emoji-changing, and animal dot styles. These also help when a client has grown used to a plain dot and needs something that recaptures attention.
Use the Stroop test
The Stroop test is a strong working-memory task in its own right. It presents color words printed in mismatched ink colors and asks the client to name the ink color, which means inhibiting the automatic habit of reading. That inhibition is effortful, which is exactly what you want from a competing task. CloudEMDR includes a Stroop mode with word sets in English, Dutch, and Norwegian, and a “Next 16 words” button to refresh the cards. We go deeper on how and when to use it in our dedicated piece on the Stroop test in EMDR.
Combining loads without overwhelming the client
Because these levers stack, it is tempting to turn everything up at once. Resist that. If you add sound, speed up the dot, and switch to a random pattern all in the same set, you may push the client past the useful zone, and it becomes hard to tell which change did what.
A more measured approach is to change one thing at a time and watch the response. If processing has stalled with a plain, linear dot, try adding sound first. If that does not move things, vary the pattern. This way you keep a clear sense of what is helping, and you avoid loading the client to the point where they lose the memory.
A quick session checklist
Working within your protocol, you can think of load in three steps:
- Start with a baseline the client can manage comfortably.
- Increase one variable when processing stalls, then reassess.
- Ease off if the client loses contact with the target memory.
The remote advantage
There is a practical reason remote EMDR suits this kind of tuning. With CloudEMDR Pro’s Remote Sessions, your client sees only the moving dot, with smoother animation and no controls, while you hold the controls and a session timer on your side. That means you can adjust speed, switch patterns, and add sound without the client seeing you fiddle with settings, so the changes feel like part of the process rather than a distraction. You can read more about how these features fit together in our overview of CloudEMDR Pro features.
Understanding why you are making each adjustment turns the controls from a set of options into a clinical instrument. The theory gives you the reason; the tool gives you the reach.
Try the full set of load options
CloudEMDR Pro gives you extra movement patterns, five bilateral sounds, dot styles, and Stroop mode, all controlled from your side while your client sees only the dot. The first three weeks are free, and you can cancel anytime.