Effects of EMDR on previously abused child molesters: Theoretical reviews and preliminary findings from Ricci, Clayton, and Shapiro

We publish in this issue a preliminary and tentative account of the reduction of deviant sexual arousal, as measured by phallometry, by eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR). The purpose of this editorial is to show that the conclusions of Davidson and Parker (2001), and the comment by Salkovskis, can now be set aside, and to present our readers with some theoretical thoughts on some of the mechanisms by which EMDR could induce its effects, including trauma reduction. A major bar to the further acceptance of EMDR as a treatment and as an inviting research topic stems from the fact that workers still cannot see how eye movements can cause the reported clinical changes and the increasing number of temporally related psycho-physiological phenomena. This editorial suggests that the organs of computation of the mind have evolved by natural selection to solve problems of survival and, signally, include corollary discharge and feed forward (CD-FF) mechanisms by which they intrinsically function and also interact with one another.

Journal

English

Malcolm MacCulloch

MacCulloch, M. (2006, December). Effects of EMDR on previously abused child molesters: Theoretical reviews and preliminary findings from Ricci, Clayton, and Shapiro. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology, 17(4), 531-537. doi:10.1080/14789940601075760