A new psychotherapy approach for norödermatit (nerve eczema): Flash EMDR technique

The Flash Technique is a quick and relatively painless method for reducing the intensity of low- and high-intensity distressing memories resulting from traumatic experiences. It is a technique that can be used for clients who are extremely anxious about accessing traumatic memories, are dissociated while accessing memory, are emotionally overwhelmed, or are resistant to accessing the traumatic memory. The aim of the technique is to process the memory by exposing the client to the target memory-related disorder for a short time (like 10 seconds). Unlike many traditional trauma therapy interventions, the Flash Technique is a minimally intrusive method that does not require the client to consciously engage with the traumatic memory. In other words, it is used as a quick and relatively non-disturbing way of ending the traumatic memory by reprocessing it. Today, it is known that this technique is effective in the treatment of psychological disorders such as depression, trauma and grief. In this respect, patients who apply to hospitals with dermatological lesions in sensitive areas and easily visible body parts may experience high levels of psychological distress. Therefore, the importance of being aware of the prevalence of psychological comorbidities in dermatological problems is increasing. The aim of this study is to examine the skin condition of a case with neurodermatitis, the effectiveness of the Flash EMDR Technique for the improvement of psychosomatization and depression from psychological symptoms. Within the scope of the research, the case of a 20-year-old client who was exposed to various childhood traumas at the age of five, was diagnosed with neural eczema (Neurodermatitis) about two years ago, and is now 20 years old, was studied. Psychological symptoms scale (SCL-90) and Beck depression scale were administered to the client before starting therapy. The process that started with the divorce of his parents when he was five years old was later neglected and abused at different times. After a difficult child and adolescence, he started university and after a while, he started to experience problems such as an intense sense of loss, insomnia, eating disorders, sadness, introversion, and social withdrawal. Along with all these psychological problems, in the last two years, wounds that appear on the skin from the lower back to the toes and are manifested by constant itching and bleeding have occurred. The client who applied to the doctor was diagnosed with neural eczema and was given medication (Alerrset) for two years. When there was no improvement in terms of recovery, he decided to take therapy and started therapy . After two sessions of anamnestic interview with the client, Flash EMDR Technique was applied in one session (the session duration of the technique takes 20 minutes). Before the Flash EMDR Technique applied to the client, the pretest, the posttest two weeks later, and the follow-up test five months later were applied. The pretest scores were determined as (somatization score: 2.25 (low level), depression score: 43-severe depression). Posttest scores were determined as (somatization score: 0.75 - no problem), depression score: 25 - moderate depression) . In the follow-up test, the scores were determined as (somatization score: 0.25-no problem), depression score: 8-minimal depression). As can be seen, there was a significant decrease in scale scores after therapy . In addition , photographs of the wounds on the client's body were taken before the therapy , and it was determined that the wounds on the body were completely healed after monitoring. On the other hand , after starting the therapy , the client does not take any medical drugs, etc. didn't use it. Discussion and Conclusion: According to the results of the study, it can be said that the Flash Emdr Technique is effective both in the recovery of neurodermatitis and in the reduction of somatization and depression scores. According to the results obtained, it can be said that the Flash EMDR Technique is an effective intervention method, both without exposing the client to trauma for a long time, and because the session ends in a short time like 20 minutes.

Conference

Turkish

Avci. M., & Akbağ, G. (2023, June). A new psychotherapy approach for norödermatit (nerve eczema): Flash EMDR technique. Presentation at the 5th International Congress on Multidisciplinary Social Sciences, Virutal. Turkish