EMDR with children. An overview of research and clinical practice

For more than 25 years, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has been widely used with infants, children and adolescents internationally. Meta-analyses including randomised controlled trials and single case experimental design studies have shown EMDR is effective with children with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the age of 4 years. Both the World Health Organization and the Australian Psychological Society recommend the use of EMDR with children with PTSD. However, clinical practice shows many traumatised children and their families in New Zealand do not receive the type of trauma-focused treatment endorsed by international guidelines. This paper provides an overview of the use of EMDR with children and explains the procedure with single event trauma and developmental trauma, illustrated with case examples.

Journal

English

Arianne Struik

Struik, A. (2024). EMDR with children. An overview of research and clinical practice. Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, 34(1), 49–58. doi:10.5281/zenodo.10939142