EMDR Beyond PTSD

This journal issue looks at EMDR beyond PTSD and includes reviews about efficacy of EMDR for depression, panic, OCD & eating disorders.

Table of Contents

A Special Issue On EMDR In PTSD And Other Psychopathological Conditions (Editorial) by Antonio Onofri

“I am really pleasured to present this first special issue of Clinical Neuropsychiatry completely dedicated to EMDR beyond PTSD. The reader will find a series of reviews about the available results regarding EMDR in the field of Depressive Disorders, Panic Disorders, OCD, Eating Disorders and in special clinical populations, as Children and Adolescents are, or the Refugees and Asylum Seekers.”

A Hypothetical Mechanism Of Action Of EMDR: The Role Of Slow Wave Sleep by Marco Pagani, Sara Carletto

“EMDR is now considered as an elective treatment for PTSD and its efficacy is being proved in several other psychological conditions. Nevertheless, the EMDR underlying mechanisms of action have not yet been fully clarified. At the moment being, different theories have been proposed, such as the orienting response and the working memory hypothesis, which have been supported by various clinical and neurophysiological researches. This paper discusses a hypothesis which focuses on the similarity between the typical EMDR Eye Movements and delta and beta waves occurring during the Slow Wave Sleep. SWS appears to have a key role in memory consolidation and in the reorganization of distant functional networks, as well as Eye Movements seems to lead to a weakening of traumatic episodic memory and a reconsolidation of new associated information. SWS hypothesis may represent another important step toward the understanding on how EMDR works.”

EMDR For Depression: A Systematic Review Of Controlled Studies by Sara Carletto, Luca Ostacoli, Nicoletta Colombi, Luca Calorio, Francesco Oliva, Isabel Fernandez, Arne Hofmann

“Objective: Depression is one of the most common mental disorder, with huge societal costs. Although psychotherapy and medication can improve remission rates, the success rates of current treatments are limited. Given the recent research indicating that trauma and other adverse life experiences can be potential risk factors for depression, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been considered effective also in the treatment of depression. The aim of the present systematic review was to summarize current literature on EMDR efficacy in patients with depression.”

Traumatic Experiences and EMDR in Childhood and Adolescence. A Review of the Scientific Literature on Efficacy Studies by Anna Rita Verardo, Emanuela Cioccolanti

“Objective: The aim of this review is to examine the efficacy of EMDR treatment on children and adolescents with post traumatic stress disorder symptoms through comparison with other established trauma treatment or no treatment control groups. Conclusions: These findings support the use of EMDR for treating symptoms of PTSD in children, although further replication and comparison are required.”

Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing (EMDR) And Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review by Marina Balbo, Maria Zaccagnino, Martina Cussino, Cristina Civilotti

“Objective: Eating disorders (Eds) are considered an emergency form a medical, health and social point of view in all Western countries. Alongside the great attention paid to the subject in public and the social media, EDs are a source of perplexity both for the scientific community, which attempts to study the psychopathogenetic processes and maintenance mechanisms of EDs and to monitor clinical interventions, and for clinicians, who often find themselves with patients who are difficult to deal with, resultant to change and set up a solid therapeutic alliance, and inclined to drop out. This article aims to study the use of the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) in the treatment of EDs through a process of systematic revision of the literature, after defining EDs theoretically, underlining a possible traumatic origin for their onset.”

EMDR Therapy Of Panic Disorder And Agoraphobia: A Review Of The Existing Literature by Elisa Faretta, Andrew Leeds

“Objective: The article outlines the state of the research on EMDR therapy of Panic Disorder (PD) and Agoraphobia. Conclusions: While research on EMDR therapy for PD/A is still at an early stage, these preliminary findings support the need for controlled studies to systematically evaluate the efficacy of EMDR therapy for PD in comparison with other accepted PD treatments.”

The Use Of EMDR With Refugees And Asylum Seekers: A Review Of Research Studies by Paola Castelli Gattinara, Susanna Pallini

“Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) (Shapiro 2001), i an evidenced based therapy for PTSD and could be effective in the treatment of traumatized and therefore, has been endorsed as a treatment of choice in many national and international health organizations including the World Health Organization. This article reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the use of EMDR in the refugees and asylum seekers treatment of PTSD. Recently there is a growing interest in implementing EMDR as a trauma-focused intervention. On reviewing nine studies, authors found that EMDR was more efficacious against waitlist, and was equally efficacious against stabilization.”

CBT Combined With EMDR For Resistant Refractory Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Report Of Three Cases by Gian-Paolo Mazzoni, Andrea Pozza, Carmelo La Mela and Isabel Fernandez

“Conclusions: These are only three case reports so we can draw only anecdotal conclusions EMDR could be a useful method to implement current treatments when combined with CBT, also for OCD resistant patients; however, future randomized controlled trials would be need to validate these findings.”

Issue Access

Open Access