Explaining EMDR with Inside Out

If you’ve seen Inside Out or Inside Out 2, you probably remember Riley’s mind as a busy control center, where Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Anxiety take turns at the control panel. Each emotion helps guide her reactions, storing memories as glowing orbs that reflect the feelings tied to those experiences. Yellow for joy, blue for sadness, red for anger, and so on.

Every night, when Riley goes into her REM sleep, her mind sorts through these memories, deciding which ones to keep, which ones to store, and which ones to let go. That’s the brain’s natural way of processing life events. But sometimes, we don’t process those events.

When Memories Get Stuck

Imagine Riley experiences something overwhelming. This could be a loss, a failure, or a moment of intense anxiety. Anxiety touches the memory orb, tinting it orange. Instead of the memory being stored in its proper place, it gets taken into the core memory room, where it influences everything she feels and believes about herself.

That orb is no longer just a memory. Over time, it connects with others in the core room, forming a negative cognition, which is a deep, automatic belief like: “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not safe,” or “It’s my fault.”

And that belief starts quietly running the control panel.

Who’s in Charge of the Control Panel?

Before EMDR, negative cognitions act like invisible operators. They hand the controls to the emotions that match their story: For Riley, Anxiety takes over when she believes “I’m not good enough.” For others, Fear may take over when the belief is “I am not safe,” or Sadness when the belief is “I don’t matter.”

Even when Riley knows she did the best she could, the old belief can hijack her reactions. A small trigger, a disagreement with a friend, or a challenge at school, can send her emotions into overdrive. It feels automatic because the negative cognition is still in control.

EMDR: Revisiting the Core Memory Room

This is where EMDR steps in. In therapy, Riley is guided to focus on the memory orb while experiencing bilateral stimulation, which can be eye movements, tapping, or alternating sounds. This activates both sides of the brain, reconnecting the emotional (limbic) and logical (prefrontal) sides. It’s like shining light on the orange orb, allowing all of Riley’s emotions to see it together for the first time.

As the memory is held in mind, the brain begins to:

1. Desensitize the memory: The intense emotion fades, and it no longer hijacks the control panel.
2. Integrate new information: Riley realizes, “I did the best I could”
   Or “I am good enough.”
3. Blend the colors: The orb, once orange, starts to mix with other colors

This process is called reprocessing, and it transforms the orb from a frozen, one-color memory into a mixed, colorful memory.

Adaptive Beliefs and Balanced Control

As the memory integrates, the negative cognition weakens. The belief “I’m not good enough” can shift into “I did the best I could,” or  “I am enough.”

The control panel is no longer hijacked by a single emotion. Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Anxiety, and so on can all participate in a balanced, corporated way.

Now, Riley’s reactions are guided by her integrated self, not by old beliefs. She can feel sadness without shutting down, experience fear without panicking, or even feel joy without guilt. The emotional control panel is calm, responsive, and flexible.

Mixed-Color Orbs: The Sign of Healing

By the end of EMDR, the memory orbs are no longer single-colored. They are mixed, holding both the pain of the past and the wisdom, safety, or strength Riley gained from surviving it.

That’s what healing looks like: the memories are still there, but they don’t control the console. Emotions coexist in harmony, and new, adaptive beliefs guide the system instead of outdated pain.

Put it All Together

EMDR helps the brain do what it was always designed to do: process, integrate, and store memories correctly. Through EMDR, Riley, and all of us, can finally sit at the control panel, letting emotions work together instead of being driven by old pain. The past no longer dictates the present, and we can see the world through a different lens.

Written By
Kacie Moss
Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPCA)