A controlled study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disordered sexual assault victims

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a new method developed to treat PTSD. This study evaluated the efficacy of EMDR compared to a no-treatment wait-list control in the treatment of PTSD in adult female sexual assault victims. 21 subjects were entered and 18 completed. Treatment was delivered in 4 weekly individual sessions. Assessments were conducted pre- and posttreatment and 3 months following treatment termination by an independent assessor kept blind to treatment condition. Measures included standard clinician- and self-administered PTSD and related psychopathology scales. Results indicated that subjects treated with EMDR improved significantly more on PTSD and depression from pre- to posttreatment than control subjects, leading to the conclusion that EMDR was effective in alleviating PTSD in this study.

Newsletter

English

Barbara O. Rothbaum

Rothbaum, B. O. (1997, Summer). A controlled study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disordered sexual assault victims. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 61(3), 317-334