Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing Essay

He discusses the effectiveness of this method and even that it has been proven to completely cure PTSD in some patients, mainly veterans which are my target patient of discussion. This article is credible because it was written by a good psychologist and was published in a credible medical journal.

William Harrar went into private practice in 1991 and continues to maintain a private practice. He provides professional consultations to other therapists and consults at local psychiatric units as well. He also provides psychotherapy to individuals, couples, and families. Dr. Harrar’s emphasis is brief treatments, especially treatments utilizing EMDR. His expertise in EMDR has afforded him as an approved consultant and certified therapist with the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing International Association (EMDRIA). Dr. Harrar also facilitates at national EMDR Institute trainings.

This paper will examine, compare and contrast Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) in the case of Joe, a fictional client with post-traumatic stress disorder from two tours of combat duty as a Marine Corps sniper in the Middle East, without the use of psychotropic medications. EMDR uses side-to-side eye movements in a one-on-one session with a clinician while the client focuses on a distressing memory until he or she reports reduced symptomology or no psychological distress; the clinician then has the client think of positive thoughts while continuing the exercises. EMDR has been the target of debate over its effectiveness, with some scholars suggesting that it is the “rewiring” of the brain that is most beneficial. CPT is often used when other processes of recovery fail. Therapy, administered individually or in a group, initially focuses on misconstrued beliefs of denial and self-blame for the traumatic incident and then addresses beliefs the client has about himself and the world in general. CPT uses talk therapy and worksheets with the goal of the client learning to make sense of what happened and fit it in with the beliefs about themselves and others. Findings suggest that each therapy has its advantages and which is best depends on how responsive the client is to each mode and the therapeutic alliance between the client and therapist.

Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder is possible. The current treatment of PTSD encompasses several types of psychotherapy combined with a medication regimen. Cognitive therapy is one type of therapy used to combat PTSD. The goal of cognitive therapy is to allow the patient to slowly experience feelings, thoughts, and events associated with the trauma in a controlled setting. This allows the PTSD sufferer, to categorize the traumatic feelings associated with the event and assign a more positive meaning to them. Thus providing a coping mechanism. Another school of thought places the therapeutic focus on gradually exposing the PTSD sufferer to elements of the trauma. The goal is to desensitize the patient to the traumatic event. This allows the patient to resume a normal life. One other form of therapy used in treatment of PTSD is EMDR. EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a form of exposure therapy that places the emphasis on guided eye movements. The theory is that the movements help retrain how the brain reacts to memories of the traumatic event. Success has

As stated by the name of this particular EBP, the focus is on cognition in those with PTSD. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a form of the well-known cognitive behavioral therapy. For this particular therapy, the clients taking part are older adolescents and adults (18-55+) who have a PTSD diagnosis (SAMHSA, 2014). The preliminary focus on CPT is to look at the distorted thoughts about the trauma experienced by the client. Beliefs such as self-blame and denial are initial conative focus, then therapy moves on to looking at the clients how the clients think themselves, others, and the world (Resick, Nishith, Weaver, Astin, & Feuer, 2002). Clients who are undergoing this therapy use of worksheets and what is known as “Socratic questioning” (Resick,

CPT is based on the social cognitive theory of PTSD. This theory focuses on how the traumatic event is understood and how it is being coped with by the client who is struggling to regain control over his or her life. CPT also refers to the emotional processing theory of PTSD which is an extension of information processing theory by Foa, Steketee, and Rothbaum (Mullen, Holliday, Morris, Raja, and Surís 2014). This theory states PTSD emerges from the development of fear in one’s memory that creates avoidance behavior and provokes one to escape these memories. Mental fear builds stimuli, responses, and meaning elements (Mullen, Holliday, Morris, Raja, and Surís 2014). Therefore anything that is associated with the trauma may provoke fear that leads to the concept of escaping and avoidance behavior. In individuals with PTSD, the fear is known to be easily accessible. When the fear is activated by the reminders of one’s trauma, one builds intrusive symptoms due to the information trying to process and enter one’s consciousness. In order for an individual to avoid these feelings and thoughts, one tries to avoid it which leads to the avoidance symptoms of PTSD which include yet are not limited to depression, alienation (Mullen, Holliday, Morris, Raja, and Surís 2014). Emotional Processing Theory states the repetitive exposure of trauma in a safe environment such as a therapeutic setting, helps reduce PTSD symptoms by calming and addressing one’s fear (Mullen, Holliday, Morris,

Foa and her colleagues (2011) created prolonged Exposure (PE) for clients trying to overcome with PTSD that is based on the emotional processing therapy (Foa, 2011). PE treatment plan includes collecting of information associated to both the traumatic experience and the trauma survivor's responses to it, the teaching of breathing retraining techniques, education, the re-experiencing of the trauma in imagination, and in vivo exposure (Foa, 2011). When compared with CPT, PE is a 10-session treatment (60-90 minutes) that is centered on both in-vivo and imaginal exposure to the trauma memory and ensuing adaptation. PE reports that repetitive stimulation of the trauma memory allows the clients to integrate new, counteractive information about themself and their world. Additionally, homework assignments in PE allow the client to face safe situations, which were formerly resolute to be threatening based upon inaccurate post-traumatic beliefs (Foa,

The symptoms that are being treated through this individualized treatment plan related to post traumatic stress disorder are: dissociative reactions, irritable and aggressive behavior, concentration problems, and trauma-related external reminders. The first goal is in place to assist Precious in learning to eliminate intrusive memories, a “notable feature of memory in PTSD is the reliving experiences or “flashbacks” to the trauma” (Berwin, 2003, p. 340), and addressing causes of these memories through the intervention of prolonged exposure. In addition, the second goal that is being implemented, preventing and addressing distortions, is being addressed through prolonged exposure. This technique is “a general treatment strategy for reducing anxiety that involves confronting situations, activities, thoughts, and memories that are feared and avoided even though they are not inherently harmful.” (Foa, 1998, p. 65). The flashbacks and distortions that Precious experiences are being addressed through prolonged exposure, due the fact that it

EMDR therapy, EMDR uses an eight-phase approach, referring to the past, present, and future aspects of the traumatic experience, and dysfunctional stress stored memories. The first Phase calls History and Treatment Planning. In this phase the therapist listens the patient's history and develops a treatment plan. In Phase II, the preparation, the therapist teaches the patient how to calm down him/herself with the help of relaxation techniques. The phase III is Assessment in which the therapist asks the patient to visualize the image of the disturbing event, then asks him/her to develop a positive cognition associating with that image. In Phase IV, Desensitization, the patient  focuses on the disturbing memories during short sessions of 15-30 seconds. At the same time, he/she also focuses on the alternative stimulation such as directed eye movements, slapping hands, or voices. This process repeats  many times until the patient's reaction to the target memory becomes less distressed. In Phase V, Installation, the therapist again with the use of bilateral stimulation asks the patient to remember the event about which the positive cognition is developed in the phase III, and makes sure that

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is defined as “a development of characteristic long-term symptoms following a psychologically traumatic event that is generally outside the range of usual human experience” (Nordqvist, 1). Simply put, it is a type of anxiety that affects a patient after a traumatic

According to Sharf, (2008) the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) was designed to treat posttraumatic stress disorder. EMDR requires that the clients visualize an upsetting memory and accompanying physical sensations. The clients repeat negative self-statements that they associate with the scene. The procedure is repeated again and again until the client’s anxiety is reduced. EMDR focuses on desensitizing strong emotional reasons in clients and help them to reframe their belief systems to accommodate new emotional states (Sharf, 2008).

The difference in effectiveness between trauma -focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) were identified in this article. The identified outcome is stipulated as post traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The study found a lack of significant difference between the two modalities. The mean difference was 0.69. The study’s outcome prorvided results that both TF-CBT and EMDR yielded decreased symptoms. The article notes the importance of children obtaining therapeutic services to reduce PTSS. Additionally, dropout rates and lack of symptom reduction in TF-CBT affords an alternative of implementing EMDR as a secondary modality. Although it appears TF-CBT has an array of research

For some patients with excessively traumatic experiences, the following preparation stage will last longer than the 1 to 4 sessions that most patients take. In the preparation phase, the therapist has to build a trustful relationship with the client in order to help establish appropriate expectations for the patient during the treatment. Since EMDR therapy does not require the patient to completely confide in the therapist her experiences, a therapeutic relationship between client and clinician is very important. Otherwise, the following sessions and treatments would be misdiagnosed since the patient’s statements to the therapist may not be completely true. After they establish a connection, the theory, procedures, and expectations of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy is clarified by the clinician to the patient. Also explained to the patient is the concept of Bilateral Stimulation (BLS), oscillating eye movements, sounds, and sensations. BLS aids the left and

The distractions of driving are a popular area of research. Recent studies have looked at what distracts drivers and what other failures of awareness may contribute to traffic accidents. The goal of this paper is to look at research and explain how change blindness can possibly effect driving.

In this paper the therapies related to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) will be studied in order to determine the applicability thereof for the treatment (and prevention) of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD will be summarised as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders edition 4 with revisions (DSM-IV-TR). The therapy models, their theory and techniques will be discussed. The therapies this paper has in scope are, CBT, Exposure therapy and it’s different related techniques, Stress Inoculation Training (SIT), and Eye Movement Desensitisation