Bridging the gap between clinical practice and research with EMDR

Description

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a trauma treatment with origins date back to 1987 by its founder Francine Shapiro. EMDR is based on an information-processing model and is being used to treat traumatic symptoms. Clinicians in many types of clinical settings worldwide employ EMDR for a board range of treatment issues including grief, depression, anxiety, physical and sexual abuse. Although there is evidence that EMDR is effective in treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, more research needs to be done in clinical practice settings to contribute to the much needed research base about effective of EMDR with other issues.

Therapists working with trauma are often dealing with high caseloads and administrative requirements of the agencies that they work with. The clinicians involved in this research have observed that there have been some encouraging developments in their community which have served to build bridges for clinicians to increase their confidence in the world of research. In 2007, an intiative called Research Skills Development Program offering mentoring in research skills development was offered in association with Lakehead University and Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Ontario, Canada.

Completion of this 1-year program proved to be the first step in make the transition from clinician to researcher. From there, partnerships were formed within the agency and community. With the support of our agency, researchers were able to gain access to testing and computer software that made data collection and data anaylsis possible with least disruption to our clinical services.

The clinicians were encouraged by previous results from our first study in 2007 (n=6) to continue systematic data collection with more clients (n=6). Approval for this recent study was received by the Ethics Committee of St. Joseph's Care Group.

Format

Conference

Language

English

Author(s)

C. Watson
R. Davis
T. Heimonen

Original Work Citation

Watson, C., Davis, R., & Heimonen, T. (2010, September/October). Bridging the gap between clinical practice and research with EMDR. Poster presented at the 15th EMDR International Association Conference, Minneapolis, MN

Citation

“Bridging the gap between clinical practice and research with EMDR,” Francine Shapiro Library, accessed May 15, 2024, https://francineshapirolibrary.omeka.net/items/show/20379.

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