A banner year for EMDR therapy
The general pace of publication on EMDR continued at a strong pace in 2013 with 68 peer reviewed journal articles and 7 books. Of the articles, three randomized controlled trials (RCT) examined the application of EMDR to conditions other than PTSD. Tesarz, et al. examined EMDR therapy for non-specific back pain; Faretta compared EMDR and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in the treatment of panic disorder; and Capezzani et al. published the first comparison of EMDR and CBT for PTSD, anxiety and depression in cancer patients. The pace of RCTs on EMDR therapy still pales alongside the pace of RCTs for CBT, but EMDR continues to make inroads, especially in Europe. For example, 2013 revealed plans for the first multi-site RCT comparing EMDR therapy with prolonged exposure for the treatment of PTSD in those with psychosis. The theme of applying EMDR to those with psychosis is taken up again this month in one of the latest articles indexed in the December list below.
A wealth of resources for those (newly) trained in EMDR therapy
I am often struck by the remarkable number of high quality journal articles and books available today for those newly trained in EMDR. Those of us who began EMDR training in the early 1990s had no such resources to help us master the basics of EMDR therapy, let alone the wonderful resources addressing advanced applications. Find a listing of book on EMDR therapy in this resources section on AndrewLeeds.net.
Research on hemispheric communication as a mechanism for EMDR therapy
The latest research from Andrew Parker, Adam Parkin and Neil Dagnall in the United Kingdom, which appeared in September, just caught my attention. Titled, "Effects of saccadic bilateral eye movements on episodic and semantic autobiographical memory fluency," this open access article is indexed in the December EMDR Research news where you will find a link to the full text. It examines evidence that may help support theories of mechanism of action for EMDR therapy based on increasing interhemispheric communication.
Access to published fidelity scales and EMDR scripts
This is a reminder to purchasers of my 2009 A Guide to the Standard EMDR Protocols for Clinicians, Supervisors, and Consultants that Springer Publishing Company has made available PDFs of Appendices A and B. These appendices contain essential EMDR scripts, forms and the first complete set of published EMDR therapy fidelity scales.
Current purchasers of the book receive a download link printed on the inside of the first page of the book. Earlier editions and ebook versions omitted this download page link. As the author, I believe that all purchasers should have access to printable versions of these useful resource pages.
Details on how all purchasers of my book can obtain the download link are now available on one of the book pages at www.AndrewLeeds.net.
December EMDR Research News
This month, there are ten new research articles. The video of the month features Dayna Cakebread from Portland speaking from the heart about “How EMDR Completed my Daughters' Recoveries!”
Healing in Psychotherapy and Early EMDR Interventions for Disasters
In the books section of the December EMDR Research news you will find links to two books of interest to EMDR trained clinicians: Marilyn Luber’s latest book, Implementing EMDR Early Mental Health Interventions for Man-Made and Natural Disasters and Healing Moments in Psychotherapy edited by Daniel J. Siegel and Marion Solomon.
