Re:EMDR vs. Writing

I asked this question before, but I'll mention it again. Doesn't it matter more whether patients comply with a treatment than which treatment is "most effective" in a controlled study? (There was already discussion of this as regards cbt vs emdr.)

For instance, does the typical patient actually complete writing homework? If they do, do they follow the instructions fully enough that somatic elements are present? I, for one, fully believe writing can be as effective as EMDR, given that one's defenses are as fully compromised. that one is as spontaneous and honest when writing as when they are in the office, f2f, with an EMDR therapist. However, I don't think most people want to cast off their defenses in such a solitary way.

(A more interesting study would be doing writing homework in the presence of a therapist vs doing EMDR, in my opinion!)

Last point: I think that writing includes somatic elements in and of itself. And while they are unregulated and spontaneous, it involves eye movement, which under any circumstance (emdr, meditation, nlp, etc) is going to access and create new associations and realizations.

Replies:

Re:EMDR vs. Writing, by Cahill, 07/02/03

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