EMDR Europe Humanitarian Assistance Programme (HAP): The efficacy of using EMDR in the aftermath of an earthquake in India

India, the world’s second largest democracy, is known for its diversity in terrain, culture and ethnicity. Prone to both natural and man made calamities along with a high population density and not enough resources, mental health does not rank high on the list of people’s priorities. The earthquake of January 2001, was the second deadliest experienced by the country through its recorded history. Trauma therapy, specifically EMDR was still at its inception in the country with very few fully trained professionals. These professionals put together a response that reached out to more than 16000 affected individuals, mostly children and adolescents and a few parents, teachers and adults from the society. The keynote address discusses the approach that was adapted in working in Gujarat in the aftermath of the earth quake, the processes that were modified to make them relevant both to the culture and the trauma experienced by the people. The address also discusses the documented findings while work was underway, the experiences and observations of the therapists along with a few representative cases. The data for this keynote was generated through the drawings of children done as a part of the therapy itself. The impact on adolescents using the Impact of Event scale will also be presented.

Conference

English

Helga Matthess
Sushma Mehrotra

Matthess, H., & Mehrotra, S. (2008, June). EMDR Europe Humanitarian Assistance Programme (HAP): The efficacy of using EMDR in the aftermath of an earthquake in India. Keynote presented at the 9th EMDR Europe Association Conference, London, England