A lot of what's going on

Brian,

I thought I’d weigh in on something a little off the research topic, but very related.

I’m starting to conclude that those who will be skeptical of EMDR will be skeptical of EMDR no matter what proof there is. And those of us who find it works will continue to use it in spite of some negative studies. So far, my reading shows all the negative studies to be flawed, but to tell the truth, I’d continue using EMDR until there were quite a few valid negative studies. Here’s why:

Those of us who practiced EMDR early on were attacked with surprising vigor partly on grounds that there was little research to support it. Now that there is more research to support EMDR in treatment of traumatic sequellae than for all other psychotherapies combined, we continue to be attacked.

But EMDR’s popularity will continue to grow. As therapists and clients find out in clinical practice that EMDR is more effective than what they tried before, the use of the method will spread.

Rightly or wrongly, that is how a new therapy disseminates--not because the research supports it, but because, in their clinical judgment, therapists notice it works. We didn’t do TA and Gestalt because the research supported it; we did it because we saw that it helped clients. We didn’t do REBT because of overwhelming research; we did it because it works. We didn’t start EMDR because it was backed by research; we did it because it works.

Now it’s true that there are some invalid methods which have, at times, gained much popularity. But valid ones do too. In general, the invalid ones don’t keep up momentum; the valid ones do. So, as EMDR continues to work, you will be witness that the number of licensed clinicians trained in it will continue to grow internationally. I believe that this is because therapists are exercising good, critical, clinical judgment.

Dr. Shapiro and others can cite the research more competently than I, so I won’t respond to any points about that. I have simply weighed in to point out what, in fact, is actually going on: Many thousands of competent licensed therapists worldwide are not being bamboozled--they’re being impressed by the results they keep getting.

PS: I agree with Dr. Shapiro that some of your comments, such as referring to EMDR as placebo, are disrespectful.

Replies:

Re: A lot of what's going on, by James Mason, Ph.D., 2/21/00 Re: A lot of what's going on, by , 2/22/00

| Behavior OnLine Home Page | Disclaimer |

Copyright © 1996-2004 Behavior OnLine, Inc. All rights reserved.