Add-on eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder who failed to respond to initial antidepressant pharmacotherapy

This study examined the add-on efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy among adult civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who continued to be symptomatic after more than 12 weeks of initial antidepressant treatment. Scores for the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) were rated pre- and post-EMDR and at a 6-month follow-up. After an average of six sessions of EMDR treatment, seven of 14 patients (50%) showed more than a 30% decrease in CAPS score and eight (57%) no longer met the criteria for PTSD. Our results indicate that EMDR could be successfully added after failure of initial pharmacotherapy for PTSD.

Journal

English

Hwallip Bae
Daeho Kim
Yubin Cho
Dongjoo Kim
Seok Hyeon Kim

Bae, H., Kim, D., Cho, Y., Kim, D., & Kim, S. H. (2018, November). Add-on eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder who failed to respond to initial antidepressant pharmacotherapy. Journal Korean Medical Science, 33, e306