EMDR therapy and chronic pain conditionsSummary sheet:  EMDR therapy and chronic pain conditions (Luber)

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, as an established 'procedure for exposing emotional response' from trauma therapy, can be used specifically to process emotional distress in patients suffering from chronic pain with the clear objective of processing this dysfunctional 'emotional shift'. In addition to this EMDR-specific element of 'desensitization and reprocessing', EMDR contains numerous other pain-relief therapeutic elements that are not specific to EMDR (e.g., relaxation and hypnotic techniques, cognitive restructuring, etc.), which can be adjusted to the respective individual requirements of the patient due to the patient-centered nature of EMDR. Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that EMDR is increasingly being used to treat patients with chronic pain. This chapter presents a standardized and scientifically validated procedure for treating chronic pain using EMDR. The idea behind this EMDR Therapy Protocol and the Chronic Pain Control Protocol for the treatment of chronic pain conditions is to desensitize all of the emotional distress associated with the pain and after that to focus on the pain itself. A recent scientific evaluation of this protocol indicates that this EMDR approach is a safe and promising treatment option in chronic pain conditions for a significant number of chronic pain patients.

Jonas Tesarz
Günter H. Seidler
Wolfgang Eich

Tesarz, J., Seidler, G. H., & Eich, W. (2018). EMDR therapy and chronic pain conditions. In M. Luber (Ed.), Eye movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy Scripted Protocols and Summary Sheets: Treating eating Disorders, Chronic Pain, and Maladaptive Self-Care Behaviors (pp. 273-336). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co