"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places." -- Ernest Hemingway
As we in the Northern Hemisphere emerge from the darkness of the longest nights of the year toward the promise of spring and renewal, it is a good time to reflect on the nature of resilience. With the passage of the seasons, it is perhaps easiest to have faith in renewal. Spring has always followed winter. With the other challenges we face in life, it is often much more difficult to see a way forward, to find the support we need, and to believe that we will endure until circumstances improve. This is true for our clients and it is true for ourselves as healers.
Each of us has known adversity and loss. Each of us has felt lost or broken by circumstances if only for a few hours or days. Some much longer. Many of us have found the support we needed to endure, and many still carry the unresolved wounds of those losses. What moves us forward? Where do we find the strength to go on? And when we do finally reach the point of stillness, the place of calm, what moves us past the sense of still being wounded to a place of renewal, strength and confidence?
I suspect that each of us has a different set of answers to this question. For some it is the refuge of nature itself. For some spiritual faith. For some it is family, friendship and the unconditional support of loved ones. For many it has been therapy and the gift of EMDR.
EMDR itself has endured these many years because so many have given of themselves to carry forward the work we share. What sets EMDR apart is not just how transformative are its effects, but the core commitment to the scientific examination of its effects and effectiveness. In this enterprise, EMDR does not survive or thrive on its own. It needs your support and your commitment to the future of EMDR. As the New Year unfolds, I hope you will look for ways to give back to EMDR.
The EMDR Research Foundation
Of all the ways I give back to EMDR each month, the one that is perhaps the easiest and most gratifying over time is my participation in the Visionary Alliance of the EMDR Research Foundation. In just a few minutes you can complete a donation form and make a small monthly, tax deductible charitable contribution. For those of us in the United States, we have to face the fact that research in EMDR has seldom been funded by government grants that routinely fund other approaches. For now, the EMDR Research Foundation remains our best way forward to continue to strengthen the scientific standing of EMDR which is essential to its future.
Volunteer with EMDRIA
If you are not already a member, join EMDRIA now. If you are already a member, volunteer to support EMDRIA's mission. EMDRIA Administrative Committees are always looking for new members. You will build rewarding relationships with other professionals, while providing service to the EMDR community.
Do the eye movements matter in EMDR?
Regular subscribers will recall that on December 10, 2012 I reported the online first publication. Now the publication date and full citation have been announced for the long awaited meta-analysis from Chris Lee and Pim Cuijpers examining 15 clinical and 11 laboratory trials in which there were both an EMDR treatment and a no eye movement condition.
Lee, C. W., & Cuijpers, P. (2013). A meta-analysis of the contribution of eye movements in processing emotional memories. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 44(2), 231-239. doi:10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.11.001
As I reported then, Lee and Cuijpers found "the additive effect of eye movements in EMDR treatment studies was moderate and significant." While this may seem like old news to EMDR clinicians who depend on this effect for clinical purposes, funding for EMDR research in the USA has languished this past decade in the long shadow of Davidson and Parker's (2001) statistically flawed paper which claimed eye movements made no difference over "exposure". Lee and Cuijpers (2012) conclude, "Results ... suggest the processes involved in EMDR are different from other exposure based therapies." You can find the full abstract in the December 2012 blog on SonomaPTI or on the publishers website.
This month's EMDR research reports
Below you will find a link to the January review of recently published, peer-reviewed journal articles related to EMDR. There are 17 new EMDR articles, including four full text, open access articles.
January EMDR video of the month
This month's video is Part 1 of: “EMDR For Pain Relief by Mark Grant”