They further suggest that this effect may contribute to treatment as a “response aid for imaginal exposure” (p. 278), by titrating exposure for those clients who are distressed by memory images and/or affect. Van den Hout et al. (2001) hypothesize that EMs change the somatic perceptions accompanying retrieval, leading to decreased affect, and therefore decreasing vividness. They propose that that this effect “may be to temporarily assist patients in recollecting memories that may otherwise appear to be unbearable” (p. 129). This explanation has many similarities to reciprocal inhibition.