The effectiveness of an EMDR group traumatic episode protocol in an intensive outpatient dual diagnosis program

This study utilized EMDR group traumatic episode protocol (G-TEP) integrated with individual EMDR with U.S. active-duty military population for the first time in an intensive outpatient treatment program for PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder population.

Article Abstract

“According to the joint DoD-VA (2023) Clinical Practice Guidelines, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Prolonged Exposure (PE) are the top recommended individual and manualized trauma-focused psychotherapies for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR is an eight-phase trauma treatment protocol focusing on a traumatic memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation. Bilateral stimulation is associated with a reduction in the vividness of a traumatic memory, an ability to link fragments of a memory together, and put the memory away in an autobiographical format. This can consequently reduce a client’s PTSD symptoms significantly and help people recover from trauma (Maxfield, 2019).

Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (G-TEP) was developed by psychologist Elan Shapiro after a need was identified to work with groups impacted by negative lifechanging traumatic events. There is growing evidence that G-TEP is effective in reducing PTSD symptoms and other mental health disorders. There have been several studies using G-TEP with refugees, civilians, and health care workers. In addition, there have been two randomized control trials of G-TEP, one with EMDR treatment of COVID-related stress (Farrell et al, 2023) and another with internally displaced adults in Northern Iraq (Bizouerne et all, 2023). G-TEP has not been utilized as a treatment modality for any U.S. active-duty military population, nor has it been combined with individual EMDR treatment. At Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the first two authors integrated both a specific group EMDR protocol (G-TEP) and individual EMDR into an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program (IOP) for six weeks with a dually diagnosed (PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder) population of active-duty service members.”

—Description from publisher

Article Access

Open Access

Parker, D., Zeiter, C., Williams, T., & Hoyt, T. (2025). The effectiveness of an EMDR group traumatic episode protocol in an intensive outpatient dual diagnosis program. The Military Psychologist, 40(1), 19-23. Open access retrieval: https://www.militarypsych.org/the-military-psychologist/