into the light of awareness, he could pretty easily deal with his
present-day fears. It’s in this transformation—from implicit to
explicit—that the real power of integrating memory brings insight,
understanding, and even healing.
INTEGRATING IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT:
ASSEMBLING THE PUZZLE PIECES OF THE MIND
Implicit memories are often positive and work in our favor, like
when we fully expect to be loved by those around us simply
because we’ve always been loved. If we count on our parents to
comfort us when we’re hurting, since they’ve always done so
before, that’s because a host of positive implicit memories have
been stored up within us. But implicit memories can be negative as
well, like when we’ve repeatedly had the opposite experience of
our parents being irritated by or uninterested in our times of
distress.
The problem with an implicit memory, especially of a painful or
negative experience, is that when we aren’t aware of it, it becomes
a buried land mine that can limit us in signiɹcant and sometimes
debilitating ways. The brain remembers many events whether
we’re aware of them or not, so when we have diɽcult experiences
—anything from a twisted ankle to the death of someone we love
—these painful moments get embedded in the brain and begin to
aʃect us. Even though we’re not aware of their origins in the past,
implicit memories can still create fear, avoidance, sadness, and
other painful emotions and bodily sensations. That helps explain
why children (as well as adults) often react strongly to situations
without being aware of why they are so upset. Unless kids can
make sense of their painful memories, they may experience sleep
disturbances, debilitating phobias, and other problems.