EMDR Therapy: What’s the controversy?

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a serious psychological disorder that many soldiers experience after witnessing the horrors of war. Troops with PTSD re-experience a stressful, terrifying, and life-altering situation from their past—along with all of the emotions associated with that situation—repeatedly. One in six soldiers returning from Iraq experiences PTSD, so it is clear that the problem is widespread amongst those serving in the military. Without the appropriate psychological treatment to aid troops in coping with the extreme anxiety and depression associated with PTSD, suicide could very likely result.

Since 2004, the Veteran’s Association and the Department of Defense have chosen Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy as the choice therapy for troops who are suffering with PTSD. EMDR Therapy was developed recently by Dr. Francine Shapiro, who noticed that sweeping her eyes back and forth (during a moment when she re-experienced a stressful situation) helped to relieve the intensity of her anxiety.

EMDR melds cognitive-behavioral therapy with bilateral eye movements. During the course of EMDR treatment, patients are at first asked to identify the negative belief or event that is causing the source of stress, and are then asked to replace it with a positive belief or idea. In the next phase of EMDR treatment (desensitization), patients are asked to focus on the source of stress and the accompanying emotions while focusing on the therapist’s finger moving back and forth in front of the patient’s face. During the next few phases of the treatment, the patient is asked to focus on the new, positive belief while continuing to make the bilateral eye movements. In the final phases of EMDR therapy, therapists coach patients through several relaxation techniques to be used in between therapy sessions.

So why the controversy? While numerous studies, published in peer-reviewed journals, have suggested that EMDR is an effective therapy which does indeed help to relieve stress, many critics claim that there is simply not enough evidence to prove the validity of EMDR treatment. One of the main arguments against EMDR is that the traditional cognitive-behavioral techniques with which EMDR therapy overlaps are truly responsible for the recovery of patients who undergo this treatment. The cognitive reprocessing, for example, which patients are required to make while going through therapy (replacing the negative memory with a positive one) could in itself be the sole source of effectiveness for the treatment. Others argue that the exposure to the traumatic event—a primary component of the desensitization process—which is the effective component of other PTSD therapies is responsible for the effectiveness of EMDR. Both arguments rely on the notion that the bilateral eye movements which patients are required to make during the course of treatment are not necessary for the treatment to work.

Perhaps a bit of the “placebo effect “ is occurring within the use of EMDR treatment. Because both psychologists and patients want to believe that EMDR works—that the bilateral eye movements do indeed relieve stress—the therapy is more likely to prove effective for those who hold this viewpoint. For those who are more critical of the therapy and who conduct studies searching for flaws within the treatment, they are more likely to be affected by confirmation bias; they are more likely to look for negative results to support their preexisting ideas. When taking these factors into account, there is no clear cut answer as to whether or not EMDR treatment is effective.

So what’s my take on the issue? Truthfully, I don’t mind the use of EMDR as a primary form of treatment for those suffering with PTSD. All treatments in general have positive intentions—to help and improve the lives of those in need. Whether or not the bilateral eye movements of EMDR therapy actually do work, the whole point of the treatment is simply to help those who are emotionally afflicted. I say that if the therapy makes troops and other individuals feel better, why not use it?

For more information on EMDR therapy, click here or here .