EMDR applications to anxiety disorders

EMDR therapy was originally developed around the effects of trauma on emotional and cognitive disorders. We are now seeing its effect application in other areas related to acquisition and maintenance of deviant and disabling reactions. The results of the application of EMDR outside of trauma itself have been very encouraging and successful. This presentation will focus on the use of EMDR with the anxiety disorders. Most of the presentation will concentrate on the most prevalent anxiety disorders, namely, panic, agoraphobia and phobia. There will be some-discussion on generalized anxiety disorders, social phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The anxiety disorders will be discussed as a complex set of disorders that have multiple acquisition factors including life style, reactivity (which may have some genetic components), "personality, stressors and stress management. The presenter will make a brief summary of the role of these factors in each anxiety disorder from what we currently know clinically and empirically. The research on EMDR with anxiety disorders is almost nonexistent but the few case studies that have been published will be discussed because they offer excellent support for EMDR and for particular forms of its application. The rest of the presentation is divided into two sections: the use of EMDR as an exclusive treatment and its use with supplemental tools. The exclusive use of EMDR will depend on premorbid history factors both personally and in regard to the anxiety disorder. The discussion will focus on important information in the history taking and personal contact with the client as well as the potential targets for EMDR work with the various anxiety disorders. In many cases, EMDR therapy must be supplemented with exposure work, relaxation training, medications and other supplemental tools in order to make the intervention effective and enduring. How these supplemental tools might be implemented in the various anxiety disorders will be discussed as well as the general factors from client history or client experience that would suggest the use of supplementals. Finally, the importance of the client-therapist relationship will be discussed in relation to working with the anxiety disorders and, in particular, therapist factors that can improve effectiveness.

Conference

English

Ronald Doctor

Doctor, R. (1995, June). EMDR applications to anxiety disorders. Presentation at the EMDR Network Conference, Santa Monica, CA