EMDR and Physical Rehabilitation Medicine

I have just recently completed my Part I EMDR training. As I have reflected on my experience at the meeting I have wondered whether EMDR has been successfully employed with the type of patients that I work with on an inpatient setting.

I work in the Physical Rehabilitation section of a large medical center. We have five different teams including two general rehab teams, and a head injury, spinal cord, and stroke team. I am on one of the general rehab teams and the stroke team. In my position as the psychologist on the teams I provide an initial cognitive and emotional screening assessment and ongoing support for any patient or their family members while they are with our unit who may be having adjustment issues to their medical issues. The types of patients I might see on general rehab team would include amputations, traumatic brain injury, MS, general deconditioning secondary to pulmonary and cardiac illness, and exotic diseases such as Gillion Barre. On the stroke team I have patients with a variety of visual, sensory, language, and motor problems. For some they may be experiencing their first stroke...for others it may be their second or third.

As one might expect, most of these patients undergo a tremendous adjustment to their trauma and the subsequent issues of loss of independence, loss of body integrity, cognitive abilities and all the associated frustrations and feelings of helplessness. Both the patient and the family are anguished, frightened, and anxious for their future, as their lives have abruptly and dramatically changed.

I have wondered if their are any protocols for this area of work and would be thankful for any direction as to how I can employ this tool of therapy in any way to help my patients. As noted earlier I am inexperienced in this method. However I am motivated and excited to begin the use of what I percieve to be a potentially powerful tool in influencing recovery in my patients and their families.

If anyone can help I would appreciate their guidance. Thanks.

Replies:

Re:EMDR and Physical Rehabilitation Medicine, by Sandra Paulsen Inobe, PhD, 04/18/02 Re:EMDR and Physical Rehabilitation Medicine, by Douglas Griffith, PsyD, 04/19/02 Re:EMDR and Physical Rehabilitation Medicine, by Iris Kay, 05/07/02

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