The EMDR integrated group treatment with child victims of a terrorist

The present study is carried out within a psychological counseling project which is governed by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The study was designed to assess the effects of EMDR Integrated Group Treatment Protocol (EMDR-ICTP: on the child victims of a terrorist bombing in Gun Goren, Istanbul. In this study the EMDR-IGTP was used with 60 children who are in 5th, 3rd and 4th grade and effected by the event (exposed, witnessed or their relatives harmed, etc.) with high scores on the Turkish version of 'Impact of Event Scale' (IES). Before the group session. Child Report of Post-Traumatic Symptoms (CROPS) and a survey asking 5 stress-related symptoms of their lives after the bomb attack were applied. The group sessions consist of: meeting with children. explaining trauma, psychological debriefing, EMDR (Installing the safe place, assessment, drawing the first picture, drawing the second and the third picture, tapping, relaxation), healing story and art therapy. Participants completed another survey about what they have realized during and after their group experience. The study is completed with a re-evaluation of one and three months follow-up. Analyses of the data collected from the participants will demonstrate the effectiveness of EMDR in group setting with children for reducing traumatic symptoms and developing new resources to handle problems. In this study the effectiveness of EMDR is examined according to the difference between the ages of children, and the level of exposure (witnessing, watching on TV etc.) to the traumatic event.

Conference

English

O. A. Aytun

Aytun, O. A. (2010, June). The EMDR integrated group treatment with child victims of a terrorist. In treatment of children/acute stress. Symposium conducted at the 11th EMDR Europe Association Conference, Hamburg, Germany