EMDR and PTSD: Does It Really Work?

By Roz Brown

      When my cousin Rod returned from the Vietnam War, he came home with the Purple Heart and a brace on his left leg. Everyone in my little town was nonetheless ecstatic. We had a regular hero among us and the local newspapers couldn't get enough.

      Soon Rod began to ease his way back into society by way of daily and lengthy visits to a local bar. I don't know if he talked much about his experience, but no one was judging his choice of pain medication. Combat fatigue or shell shock is what other Veterans said, assuming it would pass. But it didn't. Within a year, the red flag was waved about Rod's "drinking problem." If he was suffering from what was soon to be called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), none of us knew or even knew enough to ask.

      Now, though, PTSD has become a well-recognized psychological disorder, one with few effective treatments. But one technique, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, has proven immensely successful at treating PTSD. Introduced in 1989, EMDR was developed by Francine Shapiro, PhD, author of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures (Guilford Press, 2001). EMDR is a method of psychotherapy that combines a range of therapeutic approaches with eye movements or other forms of rhythmical stimulation.

      Shapiro began her work by training clients to replace a negative perception surrounding a traumatic event with a positive perception. She would then move her fingers back and forth in front of the client's eyes, telling them to track the movement while concentrating on the distressing memory. (A specific machine for this purpose can also be used). This procedure is repeated until distress from the memory subsides, and belief in the positive perception has increased. A typical session lasts 90 minutes, and costs around $100 per visit.

      The website for Zoloft, a medicine often prescribed for PTSD, defines it as an "extreme traumatic event-an event that a person may experience, see or learn about that causes intense fear, helplessness, and horror." But the condition was identified long before Zoloft was patented. It was first used to describe a condition shared by Vietnam vets, primarily men involved in combat, who were unable to re-enter society as what our culture calls, "productive citizens." And PTSD isn't limited to veterans of wars: other traumatic events include rape, sexual molestation, childhood neglect and physical abuse, and car and plane crashes. EMDR has since been used to treat all of these circumstances, as well as various phobias, eating disorders, anxiety and depression. It is even used as a method to improve personal and professional performance.

      Shapiro is a senior research fellow at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. She is also the founder and president emeritus of the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Program, a nonprofit organization that coordinates disaster response and pro bono trainings worldwide. She has served as advisor to a wide variety of trauma treatment and outreach organizations and journals, and is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Achievement in Psychology Award presented by the California Psychological Association.

      Some critics say the definition of what EMDR can treat is now so broad, it's hard to take seriously. But many practitioners and clients rave about the technique. "I've had clients suffering from sexual abuse, or people who never got over the cruelty they experienced in grammar school, cured in a couple of sessions," says one Boulder-based practitioner. "In less than an hour, a therapist knows whether or not EMDR is working. It can be very quick."

      A Boulder patient agrees. Deanne Manfred (not her real name) says she spent 11 years in therapy, only the last few of which included EMDR. "I did a lot of cognitive therapy, psychodrama, group and other methods, and they were all useful, but EMDR got to much deeper places more quickly. It really freed me up. There were pre-verbal experiences I couldn't seem to get past and EMDR was very powerful-it quickly melted huge chunks of ice in my soul."

      One website says a study financed by Kaiser Permanente found EMDR twice as effective in half of the amount of time compared to standard care. And the European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis says that 76 percent of the 445 clinicians who had treated over 10,000 patients and later responded to a survey about EMDR, reported greater positive effects with EMDR than with other methods.

      According to the Journal of Professional Psychology, "In a very few years, EMDR has grown from a bizarre-sounding new technique to the most extensively researched treatment for PTSD (with numerous additional applications also being pursed)...A number of recent, rather convincing studies have established EMDR as a legitimate and powerful treatment."

      Clearly, EMDR has its advocates, including the winner of the 2001 non-fiction National Book Award, Andrew Solomon, who wrote The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression (Scribner, 2001). "While many therapies-psychoanalysis for example-comprise beautiful theories and limited results, EMDR has silly theories and excellent results. I had been told that the technique 'speeds up processing,' but that did not prepare me for the intensity of the experience. It's a powerful process; I recommend it."

      After polling several local residents who have tried EMDR for a variety of ailments ranging from child abuse, to car accident trauma, to phobias, the general response was very positive. Most people were quick to point out, however, that EMDR is best done "in the context of a solid therapeutic relationship," and believe its effectiveness depends on the experience of the practitioner.
      Bessel A. van der Kolk, MD, professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine, says he's been amazed by the effectiveness of EMDR. "I would no longer know how to treat my patients without having this tool available. It has changed my whole notion of how well we can help traumatized people."

      While there is still considerable debate about EMDR's effectiveness, even the government has jumped on the bandwagon. The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, created within the Department of Veterans Affairs in response to congressional mandate, lists the therapy as a possible cure for PTSD.

 

EMDR Resources

      To learn more about EMDR, check out some of these resources:

. Light in the Heart of Darkness: EMDR and the Treatment of War and Terrorism Survivors by Steven Silver and Susan Rogers (Norton, 2001)

. Through the Eyes of a Child: EMDR with Children by Robert Tinker and Sandra Wilson (Norton, 1999)

. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures by Francine Shapiro, PhD (Guilford Press, 2001)

. Small Wonders: Healing Childhood Trauma with EMDR by Joan Lovett (The Free Press, 1999)

. EMDR International Association, www.emdria.org

. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing website, www.emdr.com

Local practitioners:

. Chuck Barr, MA, LPC, 303-449-5667

. Jeanie Bein, PhD, 303-940-7308

. Lynne Foote, MA, LPC, 303-447-2987

. Judie Keys, CCH, 303-765-5172

. Cathy Latner, LCSW, M.Ed, 303-413-1717

. Tsunemi M Rooney, LPC, MA, 720-560-5542

. Dianne Ruth, PhD, 303-733-3868

. Jonathan Williamson, PsyD, 303-938-1695

      For more information about these practitioners and others, see the Psychology & Growth sections of the Nexus Directory of Resources and the Classifieds, and the Nexus Calendar.