EMDR clinical practice
EMDR floatback, affect scan, and feeder memories: identifying related targets
A professional overview of direct questioning, floatback, affect scan, and feeder-memory hypotheses for target identification, with readiness and documentation boundaries.
By the EMDRSuite Editorial Team
Product claims checked against the current EMDRSuite code and interface.
No independent clinical reviewer is named for this guide.
Target identification and target assessment are different
Phase 1 methods can help map experiences that may inform a current symptom, trigger, belief, emotion, or body response. Direct questioning, floatback, and affect scan are routes for exploring possible memory-network connections; they do not prove causation or complete the Phase 3 assessment of a selected target.
A memory that emerges is a candidate to evaluate within the whole formulation. Earliest remembered does not necessarily mean etiologically first, most important, safest to approach, or next in sequence. Memory is reconstructive, and suggestive certainty can distort both treatment planning and documentation.
Floatback and affect scan use different entry information
A floatback commonly begins with components of a recent disturbing experience and invites earlier related associations. An affect scan emphasizes the current emotion or bodily state when words, images, or cognitions are less accessible. Direct questioning may be sufficient when the connection is already clear.
These are clinician-led procedures learned in EMDR training, not search scripts for patients to perform alone. Choice depends on the case, consent, readiness, language, developmental and cognitive factors, dissociation, current stability, and whether activating related material is appropriate at that moment.
Feeder memory is a working hypothesis
EMDRIA describes a feeder memory as earlier unresolved material that may contribute to blocked processing. The label should not become an automated explanation every time SUD remains unchanged or new associations stop. Target accuracy, present danger, contact, resource access, information deficits, and other factors also require review.
When unexpected material appears, the therapist decides whether to note it, assess it, return to the current target, modify the plan, pause, or consult. Software cannot infer that two entries belong to one network merely because words, scores, or themes resemble each other.
Preserve provenance and uncertainty in the record
Document the presenting entry point, method used, consent and readiness context, what the patient actually reported, the clinician's provisional interpretation, candidate status, and the rationale for any planning change. Avoid presenting an inferred link as a recovered historical fact.
EMDRSuite can organize target candidates and later assessments while retaining dated notes. It does not run a floatback or affect scan, discover hidden memories, identify feeder memories, validate historical accuracy, rank targets, or replace qualified training, consultation, and clinical accountability.
FAQ
EMDR floatback technique
What is floatback in EMDR?
It is a clinician-led method for exploring earlier associations connected with components of a current disturbing experience within Phase 1 formulation.
Is affect scan the same as floatback?
They are related target-identification routes, but affect scan emphasizes emotion or bodily experience when other components are less accessible.
Does the earliest memory have to be processed first?
No. Emergence and chronology do not determine priority; formulation, readiness, risk, goals, and clinical judgment guide sequencing.
Can EMDRSuite identify a feeder memory?
No. It can store therapist-entered candidates and rationale but does not infer memory networks or clinical causation.
References
EMDR floatback, affect scan, and feeder memories: identifying related targets
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