Re:Reply to the So-Called Debunking of EMDR: Alternate perspectives

Has there actually been adequate studies to show that bilateral stimulation is not an active component of EMDR?

It is my understanding that there have been a high enough number of studies which support EMDR and, therefore, it does have scientific support.

As a skeptical client I haven't embraced EMDR easily, I've done my research. From my research, experience and knowledge EMDR makes a lot more sense than CBT. If I had to choose one over the other I'd choose EMDR. If my therapist were to propose CBT I'd walk out of his office and not return. I recognize that my therapist uses elements of CBT and I can accept that. However, as a person who has PTSD I know that CBT in and of itself will not be effective for me. EMDR is giving me hope and success. I'm thankful that I have a therapist who is openminded and utilizes a number of approaches, including EMDR, because this has given us some options and has allowed us to find something that works for me.

I'm curious as to whether the anon. poster has actually used EMDR in a clinical setting? Has he/she received the training required to properly use this approach? If, not, would he/she be willing to go through the necessary training? Perhaps by doing so he/she would find a means to explore EMDR in a more positive manner and make a more positive contribution to the knowledge that is presently available on this approach rather than seeming to need to prove that it is not a good therapy approach. A healthy curiousity can go a long way.

I am glad that Dr. Shapiro, and other supporters of EMDR, are open to questions and new information. Unlike the anon. poster I do not see the shift from "eye movements" to "bilateral stimulation" as simply shifting the target. Instead, I see that as an openness to research, learning and exploring. When someone is open to new ideas and techniques rather than simply trying to prove that something doesn't work then much more can be accomplished. I believe that EMDR has helped me and that it has helped to spark some interesting questions about trauma, the brain and memory. That, by itself, is a great contribution. If at sometime in the future it is absolutely proven that EMDR does not work - so what, it has certainly raised a lot of questions for research and that it a wonderful thing. Meantime, I have chosen EMDR as a tool to help me deal with PTSD and past traumas and I believe it does work.

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