Question:
I saw on the Today Show on the Nine Network ... an interview with Dr. F.
Shapiro on something called EMDR? (didn't quite catch the first letter).
It is supposedly meant to be a therapy ... (not by itself) for Post
Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
IMHO ... one can call it hypnosis ... OR guided imagery ... or whatever!
I see it as hypnosis.
Anyway ... her theory was that if someone has PTSS and they are
"re-living" an experience ... they tend to go into a state where their
eyes will move from side to side.
So ... by using this EMDR "hypnosis" she was able to assist the person to
resolve the incident.
Anyway ... getting to the point. She spoke of a bulk of research to
support these eye movements ... and related this eye movement to
something like the process that occurs in REM sleep. However ... she did
not cite any particular cases of this.
Is there any out their ... if so ... what is it's position as far as the
etiology of PTSS ... and this particular "eye movement" phenomena.
IMHO ... this Dr. Shapiro seemed to be advancing a new theory ... that I
haven't as yet come across ... and was not citing any sources.
Can anyone help me out here?
Answer:
EMDR seems quite different from hypnosis, both in QEEG pictures (still
unpublished, I believe) and how it feels in the clinician's office.
It is a much less directive kind of therapy, IMHO. I'm including
below a list of all published journal articles about EMDR that I know
of. It is fairly current, and you'll find some speculation here about
how this stuff works. This is not a selective list -- there are some
negative findings (often from people who didn't know what they were
doing, IMHO) -- but I've excluded popular articles, most letters, and
books from the list below; its just published journal articles. Enjoy!
[In Australia, Ken Vaughan (at Sydney) and D. Forbes & Mark Creamer
(at Melbourne) have done some of this work (perhaps others as well).]
Personally, I have found it to be a very effective way to work with many
clients on issues of emotional trauma as well as PTSD. Nothing works
all the time, or with everyone, but this is pretty good. [I specialize in
trauma and PTSD, BTW.]
EMDR has been around for qhile now. Check out: Acierno, R.; Hersen, M.;
Van Hasslet, V. B; Tremont, G et. al. Review of the validation and
dissemination of eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing: a
scientific and ethical dilemma. Clinical Psycholgy Review, 1994, 14,
287-299.
