EMDR in the treatment of pain

Since it inception as a treatment for trauma there have been various reports including conference presentations and case-studies of EMDR being effective in the treatment of various kinds of pain (Grant, 1999; Hekmat, Groth & Roger, 1994; McCann, 1992; Wilson, Becker Tinker, 1997). EMDR presents itself as worthy of consideration in the treatment of pain because of the similarities between pain and trauma. Firstly, pain is a kind of trauma since it represents an unpleasant, unavoidable and fearful event for most sufferers. Secondly, building on the research of can der Kolk, recent findings regarding the neurological underpinnings of pain suggest that many of the same parts of the brain that are involved in trauma are also involved in pain (e.g., Lenz, Gracely, Zirh, Romaniski, Staat, & Dougherty, 1997).

Newsletter

English

Mark Grant

Grant, M. (1999, June). EMDR in the treatment of pain. EMDRIA Newsletter, 4(2), 8-9, 15, 26-27