EMDR adjunctive therapy at a community agency, treating clients with a spectrum of mental health disorders

This clinical practice article describes how to provide eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) as an adjunctive treatment. It outlines the process used in developing an EMDR adjunctive therapy program in a nonprofit community agency that serves clients with chronic mental health and substance abuse disorders. The chronicity of clients’ mental health issues is complicated by life stressors that contribute to the lack of insight and accompanying poor decision making and helps to perpetuate the cycle of poverty and homelessness many experience. This article describes the initial pilot project in which EMDR was provided as a short-term intervention adjunctive to cognitive behavioral therapy, transactional analysis, and dialectical behavioral therapy. Preliminary results of this feasibility study supported the hypotheses that EMDR adjunctive therapy would reduce symptoms of traumatic stress and possibly enhance the effects of the primary therapy. This article makes multiple recommendations for program organization, including staff workshops and communication, and describes clinical strategies to ensure client readiness and to integrate EMDR with the other treatments. Recommendations are made for future research.

Journal

English

Ben Czyz
Cyndi Muhlbauer

Czyz, B., & Muhlbauer, C. (2015). EMDR adjunctive therapy at a community agency, treating clients with a spectrum of mental health disorders. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 9(1), 35-45. doi:10.1891/1933-3196.9.1.35