EMDR Treatment: Less Than Meets the Eye? - Update

The most reasonabIe conclusion to be drawn from the extant literature is that EMDR is no more effective than standard treatments that rely on exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli and is almost certainly effective because it happens to incorporate such exposure. In the words of Harvard psychologist Richard McNally, "What is effective in EMDR is not new, and what is new is not effective." Importantly, controlled data do not support the use of EMDR for anxiety disorders other than PTSD (e.g., phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder), mood disorders, sexual disorders, eating disorders, or psychotic disorders, although it is commonly used to treat the symptoms of these and other conditions. (Excerpt)

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Scott O. Lilienfeld

Lilienfeld, S. O. (2011, April). EMDR Treatment: Less Than Meets the Eye? - Update. Quackwatch. Retrieved from http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/emdr.html 0n November 3, 2011.