Re: EMDR research and children

In my work with children, I too, have seen dramatic relief from anxiety and phobias. One 6 year old child was terrified to go see his pediatrician for a check up. Mother had to call in ahead so extra staff could be present because the boy needed to be restrained for any examination or procedure to take place. This child also suffered from nightmares and had not slept in his own bed for most of his life. After 3 sessions, he started sleeping in his own bed and next trip to the pediatrician, the pediatrician wanted to know what had happened because the child was calm, pleasant and complied with all medical procedures with no problem.

This is not unusual. I have worked with many other children with similar results. As I am sure have many other appropriately trained, EMDR clinicians.

As Dr. Paulson stated in her reply, Robert Tinker & Sandra Wilson, along with Joan Lovett and Ricky Greenwald have contributed greatly in this area.

Here are some additional articles on research done with children. There are more available.

Greenwald, R. (1994). Applying eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) to the treatment of traumatized children: Five case studies. Anxiety Disorders Practice Journal, 1, 83-97.

Greenwald, R. (1997). Children's mental health care in the 21st century: Eliminating the trauma burden. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry On-Line.

Greenwald, R. (1998). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): New hope for children suffering from trauma and loss. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 3, 279-287.
Greenwald, R. (1999, June). Child trauma measures for research and practice. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the EMDR International Association, Las Vegas.

Greenwald, R. (in press). Motivation - adaptive skills - trauma resolution (MASTR) therapy for adolescents with conduct problems: An open trial. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma.

Greenwald, R. (in press). The role of trauma in conduct disorder. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma.

Greenwald, R. (in press). A trauma-focused individual therapy approach for adolescents with conduct disorder. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology.

Greenwald, R. & Rubin, A. (1999). Brief assessment of children's post-traumatic symptoms: Development and preliminary validation of parent and child scales. Research on Social Work Practice, 9, 61-75.

Puffer, M. K., Greenwald, R., & Elrod, D. E. (1998). A single-session study of EMDR with children and adolescents distressed by a traumatic memory. Traumatology, 3 (2).
Soberman, G. S., Greenwald, R., & Rule. D. L. (in press). A controlled study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for boys with conduct problems. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma.

Replies:

Re: EMDR research and children, by Ricky Greenwald, 4/15/00 Re: EMDR research and children, by Sandra Paulsen, Ph.D., 4/26/00

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