The effectiveness of EMDR therapy in treating Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has undergone the scrutiny of several meta-analyses (Van Etten and Taylor, 1998 Bradley et al., 2005 Davidson and Parker, 2005 Seidler and Wagner, 2006 Benish et al., 2008 Jonas et al., 2013 Chen et al., 2014, 2015) this led to the final recognition by the World Health Organization (2013) as a psychotherapy of choice in the treatment of PTSD in children, teenagers, and adults 1.
This therapy consists of a standard protocol which includes eight phases and bilateral stimulation (usually horizontal saccadic eye movements) to desensitize the discomfort caused by traumatic memories and the aim of the therapy is to achieve their reprocessing and integration within the patient's standard biographical memories (Shapiro, 2005). Preliminary evidence also suggests that EMDR therapy might be useful to improve psychotic or affective symptoms and could be an add-on treatment in chronic pain conditions.Įye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapeutic approach developed in the late 80s by Francine Shapiro (Shapiro, 1989) that aims to treat traumatic memories and their associated stress symptoms. Results: RCT are still scarce in these comorbid conditions but the available evidence suggests that EMDR therapy improves trauma-associated symptoms and has a minor effect on the primary disorders by reaching partial symptomatic improvement.Ĭonclusions: EMDR therapy could be a useful psychotherapy to treat trauma-associated symptoms in patients with comorbid psychiatric disorders. Methods: Using PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus, we conducted a systematic literature search of RCT studies published up to December 2016 that used EMDR therapy in the mentioned psychiatric conditions. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the most important findings from RCT conducted in the treatment of comorbid traumatic events in psychosis, bipolar disorder, unipolar depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, and chronic back pain. Solid evidence shows that traumatic events can contribute to the onset of severe mental disorders and can worsen their prognosis.
Background: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapeutic approach that has demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through several randomized controlled trials (RCT).
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