Re:EMDR and conversion and PTSD

Welcome - you seem to be a new poster here. Since you appear to be a professional, I ask you to post your name. Only the lay public needs anonymity; professionals are asked to stand behind their comments with their names. Thanks.

THe meaning of some of the paragraphs in this post are a little obtuse, but I'll respond to a couple of things:

You've said, "At times Ph.D.?s may drift into explanations that are more ?philosophical? than ?scientific.?"

My reply: AIP Theory is not philosophical per se, but it is conceptual, as a way to explain what is seen in PTSD and its resolution through EMDR and other methods, including exposure methods. The resesarch on EMDR and PTSD are scientific, with the usual limitations on self report that are the problem of measurement in the mental health fields.

You've said, "EMDR is not ?psychiatry? or ?medicine? though it is an approach in an associated field (clinical/counseling psychology) and cooperates with those professions."

My reply: EMDR is a method; psychiatry, medicine and psychology are fields. There is nothing that prevents any licensed mental health professional, including psychiatrists, from using the method. The originator is a psychologist and subscribes to psychological theories. The AIP Theory postulates neurobiological mechanisms; research will likely be conducted by PhDs (neuro-biologists and psychologists) in testing the hypotheses put forward by AIP Theory; MD's may well also contribute as the future unfolds.

You've said, "Because a psychological principle has been adapted by a ?fringe? approach that doesn't invalidate the principle or for that matter make it ineffective in all of its applications, including the ones by the groups that incorporated it."

My reply: EMDR is hardly fringe, although for many it involves paradigm shifts that challenge ones conventional training. There are over 50,000 people in the world trained in its use. It has been sanctioned as effective by APA Division 12 and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. It is an approved approach to trauma by the Israeli National Council for Mental Health and the Northern Ireland Dept of Health. These references are below.

Bleich, A., Kotler, M., Kutz, E., & Shalev, A. (2002) A position paper of the (Israeli) National Council for Mental Health: Guidelines for the assessment and professional intervention with terror victims in the hospital and in the community.

Chambless, D.L. et al. (1998). Update of empirically validated therapies, II. The Clinical Psychologist, 51, 3-16.
According to a taskforce of the Clinical Division of the American Psychological Association, the only methods empirically supported for the treatment of any post-traumatic stress disorder population were EMDR, exposure therapy, and stress inoculation therapy.

Crest (2003). The management of post traumatic stress disorder in adults. A publication of the Clinical Resource Efficiency Support Team of the Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Belfast.

Foa, E.B., Keane, T.M., & Friedman, M.J. (2000). Effective treatments for PTSD: Practice Guidelines of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies New York: Guilford Press.

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