A case report of EMDR therapy use in treating reproductive trauma - A case report

The number of couples who struggle with infertility continues to grow every year. Bhat and Byatt (2016) believe that infertility and perinatal loss, collectively referred to as reproductive trauma, can change a woman's perception of herself and be a major source of stress that often has psychological consequences. Reproductive trauma occurs in up to 15% of women and is often associated with psychiatric symptoms or disorders (Bhat & Byatt 2016). The psychological impact of the infertility has been said to create distress equivalent to that associated with life-threatening illnesses and has been linked with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Corley-Newman 2016). Not only can reproductive trauma lead to grief, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), these psychiatric symptoms themselves have also been associated with infertility and miscarriage (Bhat & Byatt 2016). Healthcare in Bosnia and Herzegovina focuses on the medical side of these problems, and pays very little attention to the psychological aspects. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapy is used for treating a great number of psychological problems and disorders. Unprocessed, maladaptively stored traumatic experiences cause symptoms, and EMDR therapy, in the safe therapeutic context, stimulates blocked processing of the memories of traumatic experiences and their adaptive storage. Clinical cases can illustrate the psychological consequences of reproductive trauma and the benefits of EMDR therapy. The aim of the case study is a treatment history of a client who had multiple psychosomatic symptoms caused by traumatic experiences of ectopic pregnancies and IVF failures.

Journal

English

Tea Vucina
Sanja Oakley

Vucina, T., & Oakley, T. (2018). A case report of EMDR therapy use in treating reproductive trauma - A case report. Psychiatria Danubina, 30(Supplement 5), 262-264