The effectiveness of EMDR in children with PTSD and mild to borderline intellectual disabilities (ID)

Experiences of war and organised violence in combination with post-migration stressors leave asylum seekers and refugees in western countries at relatively high risk of developing PTSD. While evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of adults with chronic PTSD recommend that trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy or EMDR should be offered to all patients with this disorder, with refugee patients the experience-based recommendation is often made that trauma-focused treatment should be preceded or even replaced by stabilisation. Trauma-focused therapy per se, especially for refugees living in unstable conditions, has been argued to be inappropriate and ineffective or to cause unmanageable distress. In order to determine the safety and efficacy of EMDR in traumatised refugees, we designed a trial in which seventy-two adult refugees suffering from chronic PTSD were randomly assigned to 12 hours (9 sessions) of EMDR or 12 hours (12 sessions) of stabilisation as usual. PTSD symptom severity, anxiety and depression, and quality of life were assessed before treatment, and two weeks and three months after treatment. Results of the trial are presented in this symposium.

Conference

English

Jackie June ter Heide

ter Heide, J. J. (2014, June). The effectiveness of EMDR in children with PTSD and mild to borderline intellectual disabilities (ID). In EMDR research symposium (Netherlands track) (Ad de Jongh, Chair). Symposium presented at the 15th EMDR Europe Association Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland