EMDR therapy and OCD

This chapter examines the use of EMDR therapy for individuals with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). The chapter reviews the evidence for the use of EMDR, how obsessive–compulsive symptoms and trauma may occur more frequently than assumed, and how this can be understood within the EMDR Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. The authors suggest an integrative approach of EMDR and some aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy, namely the in-vivo triggering of OCD symptoms, leads to effective treatment of OCD. Different ways to conceptualize and select target memories for EMDR reprocessing are discussed, as well as working with the underlying conflicts in the complexity of treating OCD.

Book Section

English

Zoe Marsden
Karsten Böhm

Marsden, Z., & Böhm, K. (2023, July). EMDR therapy and OCD. In Farrell, D., Schubert, S., and Kiernan, M. D. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of EMDR (pp. C8S1–C8P55). Oxford Academic