Treatment Guidelines
EMDR therapy is listed as a treatment for PTSD and/or other trauma and stressor disorders by the following organizations. These treatment guidelines are based on reviews that evaluate the research of established evidence-based mental health treatments.
- Department of Veterans Affairs & Department of Defense (2023)
- Australian Guidelines for PTSD (2020)
- International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (2018)
- National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2018)
- American Psychological Association (2017)
- The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2013)
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2013, 2015)
- World Health Organization (2013)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services America (2012)
- American Psychiatric Association (2004)
Endorsements
EMDR therapy is also recognized as an effective treatment by:
- Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team (CREST) of the Northern Ireland Department of Health
- Dutch National Steering Committee for Health Care
- French Haute Autorite de Sante (French National Authority for Health)
- French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM)
- Israeli National Council for Mental Health
- The Rail Safety and Standards Board, United Kingdom
- The Trimbos Instituut, The Netherlands
- United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS)
- United Kingdom Psychological Trauma Society
- United States National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- Other international health and governmental agencies
Additional Treatment Guideline Resources
Foa, E. B., Keane, T. M., Friedman, M. J., & Cohen, J. A. (2009). Effective treatments for PTSD: Practice guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (2nd ed.), The Guilford Press.
Guideline Development Panel for the Treatment of PTSD in Adults, American Psychological Association. (2019). Summary of the clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. American Psychologist, 74(5), 596-607. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0000473
Hamblen, J. L., Norman, S. B., Sonis, J. H., Phelps, A. J., Bisson, J. I., Nunes, V. D., Megnin-Viggars, O., Forbes, D., Riggs, D. S., & Schnurr, P. P. (2019). A guide to guidelines for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in adults: An update. Psychotherapy, 56(3), 359-373. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pst0000231
Morgenthaler, T. I., Auerbach, S., Casey, K. R., Kristo, D., Maganti, R., Ramar, K., Zak, R., & Kartje, R. (2018). Position paper for the treatment of nightmare disorder in adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine position paper. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 14(6), 1041-1055. Open access: https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.7178
Phelps, A. J., Lethbridge, R., & Silove, D. (2021). Australian guidelines for the prevention and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: Updates in the third edition. Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatry, 56(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/00048674211041917