Applicability and effectiveness of group EMDR therapy for forced migrants
This retrospective pilot study evaluates the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a modified EMDR GTEP protocol tailored for migrant populations at a regional psychotrauma centre in Europe.
Article Abstract
“Background: The global rise in forced migration has led to increased mental health challenges among displaced populations, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (CPTSD). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, and its group-based adaptation – the Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (GTEP) – has shown promise in addressing trauma in such contexts.
Objective: This retrospective pilot study evaluates the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a modified GTEP protocol tailored for migrant populations at a regional psychotrauma centre in Europe.
Methods: Participants (N = 71) were adult forced migrants (asylum seekers, refugees or undocumented migrants) diagnosed with PTSD. The intervention included psychoeducation, stabilization, and the usual eight EMDR phases, delivered in a group format. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted using validated self-report measures: PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), WHOQOL-BREF.
Results: Significant reductions in PTSD and depressive symptoms were observed, with large effect sizes across most measures. Notably, CPTSD diagnoses decreased from 60.9% to 15.2%. The dropout rate was low (15%), and session attendance was high (80%), indicating strong acceptability. These findings suggest that the adapted GTEP protocol is both effective and feasible for use with migrant populations, including those with complex PTSD.
Conclusions: Despite limitations such as the absence of a control group and missing data, this study provides evidence supporting the use of group EMDR interventions in real-world clinical settings for forcibly displaced individuals. Future research should include randomized controlled trials and long-term follow-up to further validate these findings.
Highlights:
- Group EMDR therapy is an applicable treatment for forced migrants with PTSD and complex PTSD.
- Participation rates were high despite migrants’ unstable living conditions.
- A significant reduction in PTSD and depressive symptoms has been recorded at the end of the intervention.”
—Description from publisher
Article Access
Open Access
Chauliac, N., Vignaud, P., Butet, C., Gautheron, M., Salome, G., Salles, L., Galia, P., & Prieto, N. (2025). Applicability and effectiveness of group EMDR therapy for forced migrants. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 16(1), 2583875. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2583875
Date
November 14, 2025
Creator(s)
Nicolas Chauliac, Philippe Vignaud, Clémence Butet
Contributor(s)
Marie Gautheron, Germain Salome, Laurie Salles, Perrine Galia, Nathalie Prieto
Topics
PTSD
Client Population
Immigrants/Refugees
Practice & Methods
Group
Extent
8 pages
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Rights
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
APA Citation
Chauliac, N., Vignaud, P., Butet, C., Gautheron, M., Salome, G., Salles, L., Galia, P., & Prieto, N. (2025). Applicability and effectiveness of group EMDR therapy for forced migrants. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 16(1), 2583875. Open access: https://doi.org/10.1080/20008066.2025.2583875
Audience
EMDR Therapists
Language
English
Content Type
Article, Peer-Reviewed
Access Type
External Resource, Open Access
