Ship of Fools: EMDR Therapy

Thread: EMDR Therapy Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Squirrel (# 3040) on :

I'd like to hear from anyone who has had the form of psychotherapy called EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.

A therapist whom I'll be meeting with uses it.

Thanks.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

I keep having therapists insist I need this. The Skeptical Inquirer snickers at it. I am undecided, and only tried it once.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

I reviewed the literature on this thoroughly less than 2 years ago. The eye movements are unnecessary. It appears to be an unusual relaxation method with the focus on eye movements as a way of being mindful of the 'now' or present day. It appears to be used for everything, far beyond trauma. The courses to train in the method are expensive and many therapists subsequently become true believers using it for all problems. The third party funding agency I reviewed it for declined to fund it.

It reminds me of accupuncture. It may work for some things, but specifically does not work according to the theory and mechanism the promoters propose. Part of both may also be placebo, expectation of positive effects, and charisma of the therapist. YMMV

Posted by Doublethink (# 1984) on :

There is a good evidence base for its effectiveness in PTSD, though trauma focused CBT is equally well supported. It is a NICE recommended treatment in the UK. (NICE: National Institute of Clinical Excellence - body that does the UK govs clinical standards.)

The key point, in trauma focused therapy, is that you need to retell the traumatic memory to integrate it into your episodic memory.

In EMDR you do this whilst using the eye movements, in trauma focussed CBT you do it slightly differently. EMDR advocates argue that the Eye movements activate certain pathways in the brain that assist the process of integrating the memory.

Retelling the trauma is *not* relaxing. The therapy is stressful to go through, and you need to have good support around you to undertake it.

There are a school of psuedotherapies, based on "thought field therapy" , that involve tapping yourself and other repetitive movements. These don't have much of an evidence base, and are mainly a form of relaxation - but they think they are more than that - they are descended from ideas about character armour etc.

TFT may have gained credibility by association, from the success of EMDR, because people essentially think therapy+wierd-repetitive+movement and don't appreciate the differences.

[ 21. February 2014, 20:49: Message edited by: Doublethink ]

Posted by Antisocial Alto (# 13810) on :

My husband had it for PTSD and felt that it helped.

Posted by Sherwood (# 15702) on :

I went through a short course of EMDR a few years ago and I have to say that I'm still not certain if it helped or not.

It was a strange experience even before we started the EMDR properly. My therapist prepared me for it be leading me through a series of guided meditations to build an "inner sanctuary" where I could retreat to if talking about the trauma was too much. She also got me to choose three "totems", for want of a better word, to represent strength, wisdom, and love and I was to meditate on these at home for half an hour of an evening before and during the EMDR.

The EMDR itself was pretty strange, as it isn't normal to keep moving ones eyes to and fro while talking, but it was easy to get used to.

The main reason I'm not certain about whether it helped or not is because we only did it for four sessions and we were also still having regular psychotherapy sessions too. I was getting a lot out of the regular therapy, so I found it difficult to tell if the EMDR gave any extra benefit or not.

Posted by Ethne Alba (# 5804) on :

People i know who've had it tend to feel it's a bit like Marmite.....

Posted by infinite_monkey (# 11333) on :

My therapist is getting trained in it, and we've done a couple sessions--she is new enough to the process that she's honestly not too skilled, and I'm skeptical enough that I may not be ideal candidate. So for me, it's not something I'm continuing. But a close friend of mine found it enormously helpful.

It seems likely that, should you give it a go, you'll have a fairly clear sense of whether it's beneficial in a fairly short amount of time. And what it promises to be able to do is pretty exciting--there's an efficiency and precision to the processing of traumatic memories through EMDR that exceeds what we often get in pure talk therapy. So if I were in your shoes, I might go on faith for a couple sessions, just to see how things shake out.

Posted by no prophet (# 15560) on :

Here's some links to understand EMDR.

Basic description of the proprietary method.

National Institutes of Health (USA) which states

quote:
The enormous popularity recently achieved by Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as a treatment for anxiety disorders appears to have greatly outstripped the evidence for its efficacy from controlled research studies. The disparity raises disturbing questions concerning EMDR's aggressive commercial promotion and its rapid acceptance among practitioners.

This article R.H. Coetzee; Stephen Regel. "Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing: an update". Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 11: 247–354. is available here in PDF format.

quote:
above article
Both proponents and opponents of EMDR feel very strongly about their views,...In their critical evaluation of EMDR, Perkins &
Rouanzoin (2002) point out that there is still no
empirically validated model capable of giving a
convincing explanation for the effects of the therapy.....

.

Near as I can see is that this opinion, which summarizes the opinion of others in addition, is responsible for the level of acceptance of the method in the UK. The NIH opinion, cited above is responsible for the level acceptance of the method in North America.

I recall about 10-15 years ago when there was a clear push for the method. It has been substantially reduced here. I remain rather skeptical of the method, because it is not based on neuroscience re the eye movements. I think the USA's National Centre for PTSD probably contains the balanced view

quote:
Experts are still learning how EMDR works, and there is disagreement about whether eye movements are a necessary part of the treatment.

(Code fix)

[ 27. February 2014, 16:03: Message edited by: Firenze ]

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