Synergism between mindfulness meditation training, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in psychotherapy of social phobia

We report on the successful treatment of a psychiatric outpatient with long-term Social Phobia (SP), at best only marginally responsive to pharmacotherapy. He was treated by Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) because we suspected that his phobia derived from emotional trauma. He also received brief training in Mindfulness Meditation (MM), which enhanced his initially poor response to EMDR. The patient practiced meditation intensively during the treatment period and thereafter, and used it to relieve the distress that he experienced during both real and deliberately-imagined phobic situations. He recognized this distress pattern as identical to the one he reported to his EMDR therapist while processing traumatic images. The patient’s condition was much improved at discharge and he continued to practice meditation during 31/2 years of follow-up to sustain his relief. The two therapeutic approaches appear to be synergistic and useful in treating SP. We also comment on the usefulness of providing brief MM training, especially to highly-motivated patients.

Journal

English

Tzan-Fu Sun
Nien-Mu Chiu

Sun, T.-F., & Chiu N.-M. (2006, September). Synergism between mindfulness meditation training, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in psychotherapy of social phobia. Chang Gung Medical Journal, 29(4), 1-4