Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) within prisons and the criminal justice system

We recommend that work is undertaken to map examples of good practice in EMDR delivery within the prison and wider criminal justice system. We also suggest the importance of systematically reviewing the evidence; and carrying out qualitative work to understand the views of clinicians and individuals in contact with the justice system about the barriers, facilitators and adaptations to the delivery of EMDR with this population, in order to develop an optimal approach. We further suggest piloting and evaluating EMDR therapy within prisons and for people on probation, to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of this approach. Although not underestimating the challenges of this work, we hope that this will represent a significant step towards meeting the needs of this highly traumatised population. [Excerpt}

Journal

English

Clare Crole-Rees
Daniel Lawrence
Laura Bundell
Kate Saward
Lewis Jones
Sarah El Anany
Gracious Simon
Natasha Kalebic
Andrew Forrester

Crole-Rees, C., Lawrence, D., Bundell, L., Saward, K., Jones, L., El Anany, S., Simon, G., Kalebic. N., & Forrester, A. (2024). Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) within prisons and the criminal justice system. Medicine, Science and the Law. doi:10.1177/0025802424129354