Various clinical applications

It might be useful to list some of the various clinical applications that have been explored with EMDR. The primary caveat is that EMDR should be used judiciously by a trained and licensed therapist skilled in working with the target population. EMDR is used as part of a comprehensive treatment plan and dovetails with standard approaches. See Shapiro (1995) for procedures, protocols, theories, and discussion of research. See Shapiro & Forrest (1997) for an comprehensive narrative of cases, and in-session transcripts.

Since the initial efficacy study (Shapiro, 1989a), positive therapeutic results with EMDR have been reported with a wide range of populations including the following:

1. Combat veterans from Desert Storm, the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and World War II who were formerly treatment resistant and who no longer experience flashbacks, nightmares, and other PTSD sequelae (Carlson, Chemtob, Rusnak, & Hedlund, 1996; Daniels, Lipke, Richardson, & Silver,1992; Lipke & Botkin, 1992; Thomas & Gafner, 1993; Young, 1995).

2. Persons with phobias and panic disorder who revealed a rapid reduction of fear and symptomatology (Doctor, 1994; Goldstein, 1992; Goldstein & Feske, 1994; Kleinknecht, 1993; Nadler, 1996; O'Brien, 1993)

3. Crime victims and police officers who are no longer disturbed by the aftereffects of violent assaults (Baker & McBride, 1991; Kleinknecht & Morgan, 1992; Page & Crino, 1993; Shapiro & Solomon, 1995; Solomon, 1995).

4. People relieved of excessive grief due to the loss of a loved one or to line-of-duty deaths, such as engineers no longer devastated with guilt because their train unavoidably killed pedestrians (Puk, 1991a; Solomon, 1994, 1995; Shapiro & Solomon, 1995).

5. Children healed of the symptoms caused by the trauma of assault or natural disaster (Chemtob, 1996; Cocco & Sharpe, 1993; Datta and Wallace, 1994, 1996; Greenwald, 1994; Pellicer, 1993; Puffer, Greenwald & Elrod, in press; Shapiro, 1991).

6. Sexual assault victims who are now able to lead normal lives and have intimate relationships (Hyer, 1995; Parnell, 1994; Puk, 1991a; Shapiro,1989b, 1991, 1994; Wolpe & Abrams, 1991).

7. Accident, surgery, and burn victims who were once emotionally or physically debilitated and who are now able to resume productive lives (Hassard, 1993; McCann, 1992; Puk, 1992; Solomon & Kaufman, 1994).

8. Victims of sexual dysfunction who are now able to maintain healthy sexual relationships (Levin, 1993; Wernik, 1993).

9. Clients at all stages of chemical dependency, and pathological gamblers, who now show stable recovery and a decreased tendency to relapse (Henry, 1996 ; Shapiro, Vogelmann-Sine, & Sine, 1994).

10. People with dissociative disorders who progress at a rate more rapid than that achieved by traditional treatment (Fine, 1994; Lazrove, 1994; Lazrove & Fine, in press; Marquis & Puk, 1994; Paulsen, 1995; Rouanzoin, 1994; Young, 1994).

11. People engaged in business, performing arts, and sport who have benefited from EMDR as a tool to help enhance performance (Crabbe, 1996; Foster & Lendl, 1995, 1996).

12. Clients with a wide variety of PTSD and other diagnoses who experience substantial benefit from EMDR (Allen & Lewis, 1996; Cohn, 1993; Fensterheim, 1996; Forbes, Creamer, & Rycroft, 1994; Marquis, 1991; Puk,1991b; Spates & Burnette, 1995; Spector & Huthwaite, 1993; Vaughan, Wiese, Gold, & Tarrier, 1994; Wolpe & Abrams, 1991).

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6/20/97

• Primary, integrative, or adjunctive by Francine Shapiro, 8/23/97
• Integrating approaches by Andrew Leeds, Ph.D, 8/23/97