Memory reconsolidation is something that science has proved in 2004 by Daniela Schiller.
It is ground breaking because it is about being able to erase emotional learnings by creating a mismatch experience to the problem schema.
A schema is the cognitive map a person has of reality or the way they view the world.
By offering the brain an experience that comprehensively mismatches the symptom belief, causes the symptom belief to become updated like software on a smart phone. Â This is the brains innate ability to learn after being given contrary information in a sensory rich, comprehensive way.
Most therapies e.g. exposure therapy, use extinction based models to alter the problematic target memories.
However, extinction merely suppresses and does not erase the target learning. Yes a reduction is good, however, if your kitchen was full of cockroaches, would you want to reduce their population or remove them completely? Extinction merely reduces.
If you had flashbacks and PTSD type memories that you wanted relief from for good, you'd want to use a reconsolidation strategy, not extinction.
What is the difference between extinction and memory reconsolidation?
