Scientific Evaluation of EMDR Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Psychological Trauma Summary: Scientific evaluation of EMDR psychotherapy

Abstract

A recently described integrative psychotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), developed by F. Shapiro since 1989, has been confronted to the validation procedure used in pharmacological treatment (randomized control trials). This paper is a current review of the scientific validation steps of EMDR psychotherapy and its mechanisms of action. This EMDR therapy, focused on the resolutions of traumas, was started by treating patients with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). The integrative EMDR protocol obtained the highest level of efficiency, for PTSD treatment. The efficiency of the protocol is now under study and scientific evaluation for troubles in which the trauma experiences are triggers or factors of maintenance of the troubles: anxiety, depression, phobia, sexual troubles, schizophrenia, etc. This new integrative psychotherapy follows the pathways and the timing observed for the evaluation and the validation of other therapies.