Treatment Guidelines

EMDR therapy is listed as a treatment for PTSD and other trauma and stressor disorders by the following organizations. These treatment guidelines are based on reviews that evaluate research of established evidence-based mental health treatments.

American Psychiatric Association. (2004). Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from: https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/clinical-practice-guidelines

American Psychological Association. (2017). Clinical practice guideline for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/ptsd.pdf

Department of Veterans Affairs & Department of Defense. (2017). VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for the management of post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder. The Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Work Group. Office of Quality and Performance publication. doi:10Q-CPG/PTSD-04. Retrieved from: https://www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/MH/ptsd/

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. (2018). PTSD prevention and treatment guidelines methodology and recommendations. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Author. Retrieved from: https://www.istss.org/treating-trauma/new-istss-prevention-and-treatment-guidelines.aspx

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.  (2018). Post-traumatic stress disorder. NICE guideline [NG116]. Retrieved from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116

Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health (2013). Australian guidelines for the treatment of acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Melbourne, Australia: Author. Retrieved from: https://www.phoenixaustralia.org/resources/ptsd-guidelines/

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services America. (2012). Comparative effectiveness research series. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy: An information resource. SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (2013). Psychological therapies for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. Issue 12. Article no. CD003388. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003388.pub4. Retrieved from: https://www.cochrane.org/CD003388/DEPRESSN_psychological-therapies-chronic-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-adults

World Health Organization. (2013). Guidelines for the management of conditions specifically related to stress. Geneva: Author. Retrieved from: https://www.who.int/mental_health/emergencies/stress_guidelines/en/

EMDR is also found effective by the United Kingdom Department of Health, Dutch National Steering Committee for Health Care, Israeli National Council for Mental Health, and many other international health and governmental agencies. Research has shown that EMDR can be an efficient and rapid treatment.

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