EMDR research and its future: Ecological validity, process research, component analysis, outcome findings, and sociopolitical context

This panel presentation addresses ecological validity, process factors, methodological variables, and sociopolitical context in the interpretation and dissemination of outcome research. Since its introduction, EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) has been the focus of controversy because of its departure from existing paradigms, its non-traditional dissemination, and immoderate claims for rapid effectiveness. This panel reviews the socio-political context in which EMDR developed and its relevance for other emerging psychotherapeutic approaches. Findings from a recent methodological meta-analysis are reviewed to provide an empirical context for assessing the range of results in different outcome studies. Specific client, therapist, and methodological variables that could account for disparities in outcome are examined and implications for interpreting research outcomes are discussed. The panel also summarizes the findings of various recent studies that identified the effects of eye movements as decreasing vividness and emotionality of memory, physiological arousal, and in-session subjective distress. Findings from two recently completed studies are reported in which both process variables and active ingredients were examined. Limitations of the group design approach to the dismantling of psychotherapies are also discussed.

Conference

English

Francine Shapiro
Larry Beutler
John Norcross
Louise Maxfield
Susan Rogers

Shapiro, F., Beutler, L., Norcross, J., Maxfield, L., & Rogers, S. (2002). EMDR research and its future: Ecological validity, process research, component analysis, outcome findings, and sociopolitical context. Panel discussion at the Society for Psychotherapy Research International Conference, Santa Barbara, CA