Possible effectiveness of emdr on adopted child

It has recently been suggested to me that EMDR may be an effective treatment for my 9 year old daughter. She was adopted from Hunan Province China in Feb. of 1993 at the age of 2 and 8 months. She had been abandoned at the age of 2 and only spent 8 months at the orphanage. When we first met her, she had a scar on her cheek which was reported to us to have been infected when she arrived at the orphanage. It appeared to have been made by a knife, so we were pretty sure that she has suffered some abuse and trauma along with the abandonment.

She has been a joy to us and also quite a challange. she has always had a very "feisty" personality and very curious. Of course she has many control issues common to adopted children and children that have been in an instutite. We have put her in a private school that addresses her learning needs and thankfully she loves school. She has been tested as very bright and only displays school problems in areas of focusing and following directions.

This past year she began to display issues of anxiety and obsessive behavior following a traumatic time with a friend of her own age. She focused on this child being evil and ruining her life and directed a lot of agression towards us as parents. She was seen in therapy from Oct.1998 to April 1999 by a specialist in early trauma. It was identified that the event triggered an early trauma and that she did experience some severe trauma at an early age.

She has improved through the treatment and we continue to be involved with the therapist. A follow up session is scheduled for August with plans for continued contact as needed over the long run. Molly continues to display some of the behaviors that were triggered last Fall and I wonder if EMDR would be an appropriate tx for her at this time. Thank you for your time. We live in the Syracuse, New York area if there are recommendations for a therapist skilled in EMDR treatment.

Replies:

Re: Possible effectiveness of emdr on adopted child, by Jane, 7/23/99

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