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Research on EMDR

This is just some of the research done on EMDR and it's effectiveness.

American Psychiatric Association (2004). Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines EMDR given the same status as CBT as an effective treatment for ameliorating symptoms of both acute and chronic PTSD.

Bleich, A., Kotler, M., Kutz, I., & Shalev, A. (2002). A position paper of the (Israeli) National Council for Mental Health: Guidelines for the assessment and professional intervention with terror victims in the hospital and in the community. Jerusalem, Israel. EMDR is one of only three methods recommended for treatment of terror victims.

California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (2010). Trauma Treatment for Children. http://www.cebc4cw.org.  EMDR and Trauma-focused CBT are considered “Well-Supported by Research Evidence.”

Chambless, D.L. et al. (1998). Update of empirically validated therapies, II. The Clinical Psychologist, 51, 3-16. According to a taskforce of the Clinical Division of the American Psychological Association, the only methods empirically supported for the treatment of any post-traumatic stress disorder population were EMDR, exposure therapy, and stress inoculation therapy.

CREST (2003). The management of post traumatic stress disorder in adults. A publication of the Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team of the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Belfast. Of all the psychotherapies, EMDR and CBT were stated to be the treatments of choice.

Department of Veterans Affairs & Department of Defense (2004). VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Post-Traumatic Stress. Washington, DC. http://www.oqp.med.va.gov/cpg/PTSD/PTSD_cpg/frameset.htm . EMDR was one of four therapies recommended and given the highest level of evidence.

Dutch National Steering Committee Guidelines Mental Health Care (2003). Multidisciplinary Guideline Anxiety Disorders. Quality Institute Heath Care CBO/Trimbos Intitute. Utrecht, Netherlands. EMDR and CBT are both treatments of choice for PTSD

Foa, E.B., Keane, T.M., Friedman, M.J., & Cohen, J.A. (2009). Effective treatments for PTSD: Practice Guidelines of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies New York: Guilford Press. EMDR was listed as an effective and empirically supported treatment for PTSD, and was given an AHCPR “A” rating for adult PTSD. This guideline specifically rejected the findings of the previous Institute of Medicine report, which stated that more research was needed to judge EMDR effective for adult PTSD. With regard to the application of EMDR to children, an AHCPR rating of Level B was assigned. Since the time of this publication, three additional randomized studies on EMDR have been completed (see below).

INSERM (2004). Psychotherapy: An evaluation of three approaches. French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France. Of the different psychotherapies, EMDR and CBT were stated to be the treatments of choice for trauma victims.