EMDR FORUM ARCHIVE, 2000
Re:EMDR for anxiety and phobias
· 10/03/01 at 9:15 ET
Great question. EMDR has not been shown to be as effective in treating phobias and other anxiety problems compared to the other empirically validated CBT approaches. Below are the relevant references. Make sure your therapist is offering you the *best* treatment that he/she can. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, get a better therapist. You should except nothing short of the best that the field has to offer. If we know something works better than something else, why should you not try the thing has the highest probability of success? J Consult Clin Psychol 2000 Dec;68(6):947-56 Goldstein AJ, de Beurs E, Chambless DL, Wilson KA. Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-3270, USA. In a randomized controlled trial, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for Br J Psychiatry 1997 Jul;171:82-6 Muris P, Merckelbach H, Van Haaften H, Mayer B. Department of Psychology, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. BACKGROUND: Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new J Consult Clin Psychol 1998 Feb;66(1):193-8 Muris P, Merckelbach H, Holdrinet I, Sijsenaar M. Department of Psychology, Universiteit Maastricht, The Netherlands. This study examined the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and Carrigan MH, Levis DJ. State University of New York at Binghamton, USA. The present study was designed to isolate the effects of the eye-movement component of the Eye
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EMDR for panic disorder with agoraphobia: comparison with waiting list
and credible attention-placebo control conditions.
alangold@email.unc.edu
panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) was compared with both waiting list and credible
attention-placebo control groups. EMDR was significantly better than waiting list for some
outcome measures (questionnaire, diary, and interview measures of severity of anxiety, panic
disorder, and agoraphobia) but not for others (panic attack frequency and anxious cognitions).
However, low power and, for panic frequency, floor effects may account for these negative
results. Differences between EMDR and the attention-placebo control condition were not
statistically significant on any measure, and, in this case, the effect sizes were generally small (eta2
= .00-.06), suggesting the poor results for EMDR were not due to lack of power. Because there
are established effective treatments such as cognitive-behavior therapy for PDA, these data,
unless contradicted by future research, indicate EMDR should not be the first-line treatment for
this disorder.
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Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing versus exposure in vivo. A
single-session crossover study of spider-phobic children.
therapeutic technique that has been proposed as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder
and other anxiety complaints. METHOD: We compared the efficacy of EMDR with that of
exposure in vivo in the treatment of a specific phobia. Twenty-two spider-phobic children who
met the DSM-III-R criteria for specific phobia participated in the study. Children were treated
with one session of exposure in vivo and one session of EMDR in a crossover design. Treatment
outcome was evaluated by self-report measures, a behavioural avoidance test and a physiological
index (skin conductance level). RESULTS: Results showed positive effects of EMDR, but also
suggest that it is especially self-report measures that are sensitive to EMDR. Improvement on a
behavioural measure was less pronounced, and exposure in vivo was found to be superior in
reducing avoidance behaviour. With regard to skin conductance level, EMDR and exposure in
vivo did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: EMDR has no additional value in treatment of this type of
animal phobia, for which exposure in vivo is the treatment of choice.
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Treating phobic children: effects of EMDR versus exposure.
P.Muris@Psychology.unimaas.nl
exposure in the treatment of a specific phobia. Twenty-six spider phobic children were treated
during 2 treatment phases. During the first phase, which lasted 2.5 hr, children were randomly
assigned to either (a) an EMDR group (n = 9), (b) an exposure in vivo group (n = 9), or (c) a
computerized exposure (control) group (n = 8). During the 2nd phase, all groups received a
1.5-hr session of exposure in vivo. Therapy outcome measures (i.e., self-reported fear and
behavioral avoidance) were obtained before treatment, after Treatment Phase 1, and after
Treatment Phase 2. Results showed that the 2.5-hr exposure in vivo session produced significant
improvement on all outcome measures. In contrast, EMDR yielded a significant improvement on
only self-reported spider fear. Computerized exposure produced nonsignificant improvement.
Furthermore, no evidence was found to suggest that EMDR potentiates the efficacy of a
subsequent exposure in vivo treatment. Exposure in vivo remains the treatment of choice for
childhood spider phobia.
J Anxiety Disord 1999 Jan-Apr;13(1-2):101-18
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The contributions of eye movements to the efficacy of brief exposure
treatment for reducing fear of public speaking.
Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) procedure in the treatment of fear of
public speaking. Seventy-one undergraduate psychology students who responded in a fearful
manner on the Fear Survey Schedule II and on a standardized, self-report measure of public
speaking anxiety (Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker; PRCS) were randomly assigned
to one of four groups in a 2x2 factorial design. The two independent variables assessed were
treatment condition (imagery plus eye movements vs. imagery alone) and type of imagery
(fear-relevant vs. relaxing). Dependent variables assessed were self-reported and physiological
anxiety during exposure and behavioral indices of anxiety while giving a speech. Although process
measures indicated exposure to fear-relevant imagery increased anxiety during the procedure, no
significant differences among groups were found on any of the outcome measures, except that
participants who received eye movements were less likely to give a speech posttreatment than
participants who did not receive eye movements. Addition of the eye movements to the
experimental procedure did not result in enhancement of fear reduction. It was concluded,
consistent with the results of past research, that previously reported positive effects of the EMDR
procedure may be largely due to exposure to conditioned stimuli.
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