Eye movement desensitization of public-speaking anxiety: A partial dismantling study

40 college students suffering from public speaking anxiety and having experienced a specific traumatic speech-related event were exposed to either a standard EMD protocol with eye movements; a moving audio stimulus in place of the eye movements; a protocol with eyes resting on the hands in place of the eye movement, or a no-treatment control condition. The results revealed that EMD is comparable in limited effectiveness to the other procedures and that the eye movements are not a crucial component of the treatment with this population.

Journal

English

Terry Foley
C. Richard Spates

Foley, T., & Spates, C. R. (1995, December). Eye movement desensitization of public-speaking anxiety: A partial dismantling study. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 26(4), 321-329. doi:10.1016/0005-7916(95)00048-8