Help Us Counter a Common EMDR Misconception

It seems that no matter how many organizations come out in support of EMDR or how many research studies support EMDR’s efficacy, EMDR is still incorrectly considered as non-evidence based by some members of the psychological community.

A recent article in Newsweek lumps EMDR with non-evidence based therapies such as dolphin-assisted therapy, and was described as a therapy that few therapists learned to use. This article obviously ignores that EMDR is not only evidence based, but that tens of thousands of therapists have been trained in EMDR worldwide.

The incorrect information in this articles was provided to the author by Timothy B. Baker of the University of Wisconsin who is the leader for the publication, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, which is being published next month.

Another article, entitled “The Sorry State of Psychotherapy” and published on the Medical Network,  in which Timothy Baker is also interviewed, states that CBT is the most effective therapy for PTSD and criticizes the fact that it is not used by more clinicians. This statement ignores the fact that the American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (2004) has given EMDR the same status as Cognitive Behavior Therapy as an effective treatment for ameliorating symptoms of PTSD.

EMDRIA has contacted the authors of these articles to make them aware of the incorrect information published in their articles and has requested that they publish corrected information.

Please join the fight to make the psychological community aware of EMDR’s evidence-based status by contacting anyone who speaks incorrectly about EMDR. You can use this bibliography to support your claim if you chose to do so.

“Help All Those Wounded Vets”

This weekend an article regarding PTSD and EMDR by John Young of Cox Newspapers was posted on the Austin American Statesman website, and includes quotes for EMDRIA President Sharon Rollins, and Past-President Sue Hoffman:

Then again, I heard from a veteran in Austin who had sought help, and wanted everyone to know what worked for him. He called it a cure. “It” is EMDR.

Eye Motion Desensitization and Reprocessing is a mouthful. It causes the unversed to think “quackery” by the sixth or seventh syllable. It’s not. It’s a tremendous breakthrough that could help countless war veterans and others who are dealing with trauma.

The procedure was discovered and refined by San Francisco behavior therapist Dr. Francine Shapiro. She found that effecting a pattern of side-to-side eye motion with a trained practitioner somehow can dislodge crippling things from the brain’s right hemisphere — deeply buried impressions and memories that, said Shapiro, “are beyond verbal comprehension.”

This is a major departure from traditional psychotherapy because it doesn’t involve talk.

“Talk doesn’t affect the emotional brain or the physical brain,” said Waco therapist Sharon Rollins. “EMDR works on all levels,” just as REM (rapid-eye movement) plows the fields of sleep.

Read the rest of the article here

EMDRIA encourages all of its members to contact their local media and be available for interviews regarding EMDR whenever possible. In fact, EMDRIA is working on a kit to help members with press releases!  As soon as it is available we will notify you here on the blog!

Francine Shapiro Library Continually Updated

Are you looking for the most current and vast collection EMDR articles available? Then the Francine Shapiro Online Library is the place you are looking for.

Complete with research articles, newspaper and media articles, presentation powerpoints and handouts, and Journal articles, the Francine Shapiro Library is the premier online EMDR resource for researchers and clinicians alike. You do not have to be a member of EMDRIA to access this fantastic resource, so please explore it today and see all that it has to offer!

EMDR for GEORGIA VETERANS – Seeking EMDR Therapists

by Dave MacDonald, LCSW & EMDRIA Member

The Georgia Veteran Trauma Project is a web-based registry of EMDR therapists
who have agreed to provide pro-bono and sliding-scale EMDR to veterans returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We are seeking LII / Weekend II trained EMDR clinicians who are based in Georgia and who would be willing to commit a few hours each month to help heal the emotional wounds of these men and women returning home from war.

This effort is sponsored by the Training and Counseling Center at St. Lukes in Atlanta, Ga – (a 501 c 3 not-for-profit organization)

For more information you may visit our website at:
http://www.georgiaveterantraumaproject.org

or contact Dave MacDonald, LCSW  at 404.524.5005

PRESS RELEASE: EMDRIA Conference to Celebrate 20th Anniversary of EMDR

AUSTIN, Texas – EMDR International Association will be holding the exclusive 20th Anniversary of EMDR celebration at its annual EMDRIA Conference this August in Atlanta. The celebration recognizes the 20th anniversary of the publication of the first research of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), as well as the growth of EMDR therapy over the past two decades.

The four-day conference, entitled EMDR 20th Anniversary: Looking Back, Moving Forward will give attendees the chance to hear EMDR’s originator, Dr. Francine Shapiro, present a twenty-year update which will discuss EMDR research of the past two decades and the implications for EMDR’s usage today and in the future. The Conference will also address EMDR as it relates to current and future practices, with speakers such as Dr. Allan Schore, a leading researcher in the field of neuropsychology, will discuss current models of the neurobiology of attachment. Additionally, the annual EMDRIA Awards and Recognition Dinner will feature a special celebratory presentation scheduled to premier at the event.

“This year’s conference will be truly unique because it celebrates how far EMDR has come in the past twenty years – from a little known therapy that was considered to be ‘hocus pocus’ to a widely practiced therapy that has been proven effective, and as a result, has changed the lives of millions,” said Scott Blech, CAE, Executive Director of EMDRIA. “We hope that the celebration of this landmark will help those who are unsure about EMDR realize that it is in fact not
a new therapy or a trend, but is a well-established, extensively researched and uniquely effective psychotherapy.”

In 1989, Dr. Shapiro reported successful results in the first scientific study of EMDR in the Journal of Traumatic Stress. In 1990, Dr. Shapiro began training therapists in EMDR, and the practice became increasingly accepted and widespread throughout the nineties and the new millennium. Today it is estimated that more than 100,000 mental health professionals have been trained in EMDR worldwide and the practice of EMDR has helped more than two million patients find relief.

In addition to the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of EMDR, the EMDRIA Conference also gives attendees the opportunity to earn up to 22.5 continuing education credit hours for accrediting agencies such as the American Psychological Association (APA), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC), California Board of Behavioral Sciences, Texas State Board of Marriage and Family Therapists, EMDRIA and more.

“EMDRIA considers continuing education a top priority and encourages our members to pursue educational opportunities to keep their skills current and effective, which is exactly what the EMDRIA Conference is designed to do,” said Blech.

Attendees will be able to attend sessions with a wide variety of EMDR-related topics, including substance abuse, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), attachment issues, EMDR and children, couples, chronic illness, dissociation, ethical issues, neurobiology, public practice and more.

For more information on the EMDRIA Conference or EMDR, please visit the EMDRIA website at www.emdria.org.