G-TEP EMDR in women victims of intimate partner violence. Preliminary findings

According to Perez and Johnson [1], Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a public health problem that has a major impact on the physical and psychological health of women worldwide. Specialized interventions with this population could work to protect against the development of mental illness and increase women's resilience and hardiness [2]. The present study has been conducted in collaboration with WIN Hellas, an NGO that supports women who have been subjected to any form of abuse. We designed a study on the application of EMDR G-TEP to women victims of IPV. The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of G-TEP in reducing trauma and depression symptoms among Greek women victims of IPV. Fourteen women, victims of IPV, aged 29-68 (M=51.8±19.9), participated in the intervention. Regarding the traumatic event the participants processed, 3 women chose to work on physical abuse events, and 11 chose to process psychological abuse events. Three of them were on psychiatric medication. Greek versions of the following self-administered scales were used: Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, SUS’s scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, PCL-5, BDI, brief ECR-RC. The administration of the scales took place: a) before the intervention b) one month after the processing of the event and c) four months after the processing (follow up measurement). Wilcoxon test showed statistically significant reduction of the SUDs related to the stressful event. The most frequent positive cognitions were “I can cope” and “I survived”. Friedman test (pre-post-follow up) showed decrease in intrusions (PCL-5), Trait Anxiety and a tendency of lower levels in total PCL-5 and BDI scores after follow up measurements. Statistically significant higher levels of control (dimension of resilience) were observed, after the follow up measurement. Women with more safe attachment with their mothers showed a greater reduction in SUDs during processing. Present findings suggest that G-TEP intervention could alleviate stress and depression symptoms in women who have been subjected to IPV. However, the sample size of the present study is small and the study is ongoing. Further research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of EMDR G-TEP in traumatic stress and depression in women that suffered from IPV.

Conference

English

Tsouvelas, G., Liafou, V. , Shapiro, E., Ventouratou, D., Sfyri, V., & Amann. B. (2021, June). G-TEP EMDR in women victims of intimate partner violence. Preliminary findings. Poster presented at the 20th EMDR Europe Association Conference, Virtual