Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a form of psychotherapywhich claims to relieve the symptoms of Post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) and other mental health problems using (in its original form) only eye movementssimilar to those which occur naturally in REM sleep.

Description

EMDR was invented by American Francine Shapiroin 1987after she observed the way she had been able to banish disturbing thoughts from her own mind while walking in a park. She developed and refined these observations and published a paper in 1989describing beneficial results in a number of case studies.

The therapy originally consisted of the patient being guided by the therapist in moving their eyes in a random way whilst thinking about their ‘problem’. In the relatively short time of a few minutes the feelings may begin to shift and resolve themselves.

The claimed speed of the therapy and lack of necessary skilled input from the practitioner has led to strong criticism of the approach from some in the psychotherapeutic and psychiatric establishment. The practice also lacks a convincing explanation as to how it works.

Nevertheless extensive studies have repeatedly shown it to be as good as other non-specific treatments, yet lacking the long-term effectiveness of empirically-supported and specific treatments for PTSD (such as well-practiced Cognitive Behaviour Therapy; e.g., Devilly & Spence, 1999¹; Taylor et al., 2004).

Later developments have removed the focus on the eyes and used a number of other bilateral stimuli such as sound and touch, or dual attentionstimuli to bring about the effect. Its use has also been extended to include a wide range of conditions. In light of the shifting and widening claims, the technique has more recently been lampooned (see Sudotherapay) and some claim that the technique is non-falsifiable and hence should not be credited with scientific status.

However, Dr. Shapiro has been given an award for Distinguished Scientific Achievement in Psychology by the California Psychological Association and in 2002the International Sigmund Freud Award for Psychotherapy presented by the City of Vienna in conjunction with the World Council for Psychotherapy.

References

¹ Devilly, G.J., & Spence, S.H. (1999).The relative efficacy and treatment distress of EMDR and a cognitive behavioral trauma treatment protocol in the amelioration of post traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13, 131?157.

Shapiro, F. (1995). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures. New York: The Guilford Press.

See also

• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Rapid eye movements
• Saccades

External links

Supportive of EMDR

• EMDR Institute, Inc.
• EMDR European Association, Inc.
• EMDR International Association (EMDRIA)
• Child Trauma Institute

Critical of EMDR

• The Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice
• The Skeptic's Dictionary
• Quackwatch Blog critical to non-conventional medicine
• SudotherapayA satire of EMDRde:EMDR

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye+Movement+Desensitisation+and+Reprocessing Wikipedia article Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing.