Adolescent dating violence may lead to adverse health behaviors. We examined associations between sexual teen dating violence victimization (TDVV) and sexual risk behaviors among U.S. high school students using 2013 and 2015 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey data (combined n = 29,346). Sex-stratified logistic regression models were used to estimate these associations among students who had dated or gone out with someone during the past 12 months (n = 20,093). Among these students, 10.5% experienced sexual TDVV. Sexual TDVV was positively associated with sexual intercourse before age 13, four or more lifetime sexual partners, current sexual activity, alcohol or drug use before last sexual intercourse, and no pregnancy prevention during last sexual intercourse. Given significant findings among both sexes, it is valuable for dating violence prevention efforts to target both female and male students.

Cet article présente la technique éclair, une nouvelle technique utilisée pendant la phase de préparation de la thérapie EMDR (désensibilisation et retraitement par les mouvements oculaires) pour faciliter le traitement de souvenirs traumatiques intenses auxquels les patients hésiteraient autrement à accéder. Les premières données, demeurant à confirmer, suggèrent que cette technique pourrait permettre aux patients d’accéder à ces souvenirs d’abord de manière la moins perturbante possible, réduisant leur intensité émotionnelle, afin de pouvoir ensuite les aborder plus pleinement et les traiter à l’aide de la thérapie EMDR. La technique semble aisément tolérée par les patients de tous âges, y compris les enfants ; elle paraît rapide et relativement indolore pour les patients, même ceux qui possèdent des souvenirs cibles particulièrement perturbants ; elle s’enseigne facilement aux cliniciens. Elle se distingue par le fait que les patients qui évitent un souvenir terriblement perturbant peuvent se voir offrir une façon de le traiter sans devoir le ramener clairement à l’esprit. Quatre exemples de cas, dans lesquels quatre cliniciens différents ont utilisé la technique, sont présentés brièvement. Des suggestions sont formulées pour des études à venir. Cet article présente des hypothèses pour expliquer divers mécanismes d’action et évoque les effets en termes de la théorie de reconsolidation mnésique.

Healthcare workers and mental health clinicians are at heightened risk for mental health issues while they support their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and early psychological intervention is crucial to protect them. The Self-Care Traumatic Episode Protocol (STEP) is a computerized intervention adapted from the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (EMDR G-TEP). This study evaluated the effectiveness of STEP for mental health clinicians in the context of COVID-19. Thirty-four mental health clinicians were randomly allocated to treatment (n = 17) or waitlist (n = 17). The Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) and Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) were completed by the treatment group at baseline and 1-week follow-up postintervention and by the waitlist group at baseline, preintervention, and 1-week follow-up postintervention. Pre–post comparisons showed a significant decrease in depression, anxiety, and stress for Immediate Treatment, t(15) = −3.64, p < .01, d = .73, and for Delayed Treatment, t(15) = −3.53, p < .01, d = .68, There was also a significant increase in general self-efficacy for Immediate Treatment, t(15) = 2.87, p < .05, d = .46, and Delayed Treatment, t(15) = 3.72, p < .01, d = .56. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) indicated that STEP may be effective in increasing general self-efficacy and reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among mental health clinicians in the context of COVID-19. Further research investigating the potential of utilizing the STEP intervention on a larger scale and with other populations is needed.

There is currently a limited number of studies into the efficacy of eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy with children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The current study utilizes a systematic narrative review of methodologies and findings of previous literature reviews and meta-analyses as well as analyzing randomized control trials (RCTs) conducted from 2002 to 2018. Following initial scoping of the extent of studies, two systematic literature searches were conducted, firstly for literature reviews and secondly for recent RCTs. Nine databases were utilized. Eight reviews and seven RCTs were identified and analyzed for quality of methodology and outcome as measured by impact on PTSD symptoms. EMDR was found to be efficacious in reducing children's PTSD symptoms compared to waitlist conditions, with similar outcomes to cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). EMDR was effective with both single-event trauma as well as cumulative trauma such as sexual abuse. EMDR was equally effective with girls and boys as well as children from different cultures. EMDR achieved medium to large effect sizes. Reductions in PTSD were maintained at 2-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up. In conclusion, EMDR was consistently found to be an efficacious treatment for children with PTSD. Recommendations are made for future practice and research.

The present study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in treating pain and subjective distress of patients with cancer. A randomized controlled trial was performed on patients with cancer suffering from moderate to severe cancer pain in Yasuj, Iran, in 2019 and 2020. Sixty patients aged 30–60 years who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected using a consensus sampling technique. Patients were randomly assigned to EMDR therapy or control groups based on random block allocation. EMDR therapy was administered in six to eight daily 1-hour sessions. The control group received the standard treatment provided by the hospital. A Numeric Pain-Rating Scale (NRS) and the Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale (SUDS) were used to assess pain and subjective distress before and after the intervention in each session. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and independent t test using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The mean pain intensity and subjective distress score in the experimental group before and after the EMDR intervention were significantly reduced (p < .001). In the control group, no decreases in NRS and SUDS scores occurred at any time (p > .05). Differences in pain scores between the groups were statistically significant (p < .001). EMDR can effectively and sustainably reduce the pain and subjective distress experienced by patients with cancer. Thus, EMDR is a recommended therapeutic option to mitigate pain and subjective distress among patients with cancer.

It has only been in this last decade that trauma-focused treatments (TFT) have been studied in patients with psychotic disorders. Before, the paradigm stated that TFT was contraindicated in these patients because clinicians and researchers assumed the risk of exacerbation of symptoms was too high. The purpose of this article is to examine the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in the treatment of psychosis. To this end, we will present a brief narrative review of the current state of research in this particular field. The results suggest that, contrary to the “no-TFT-in-psychosis” paradigm, TFTs such as EMDR therapy can successfully be used to reduce trauma-related symptoms in patients with psychosis. Moreover, there are now provisional indications that psychotic symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations can be targeted directly and indirectly using EMDR therapy.

This article reports on the first 3 randomly allocated cases treated by the author in an ongoing trial comparing eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) with cognitive behavioral therapy (exposure and response prevention) in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder in a U.K. primary care setting. This article describes the treatment and data collection procedures, followed by a summary of each of the 3 cases supported by quantitative and qualitative data. The Adapted EMDR Phobia Protocol (Marr, 2012) was provided, following the trial protocol of 1-hour, 16-session treatment. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was administered at every 4th session. At posttreatment, 2 of the 3 cases showed more than a 50% reduction on validated psychometric measures, with symptoms below diagnostic cutoff. The final case started treatment below the diagnostic cutoff on the primary outcome measure and showed a slight improvement. Six-month follow-up data showed maintenance of treatment effects. Transcripts from a semistructured telephone interview carried out by an independent researcher following treatment were analyzed using a 6-stage thematic analysis method, which identified 3 themes: the role of traumatic experiences, role of shame, and importance of therapeutic alliance. This article concludes with a discussion of implications for EMDR practice and theory.

This study compared the effect of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy versus guided imagery on insomnia severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this randomized controlled trial, 75 patients with RA were selected via convenience sampling before using block randomization to assign patients into three groups comprised of (a) six sessions of EMDR, (b) six sessions of guided imagery, and (c) a control group. The Persian version of the Insomnia Severity Index was implemented at preintervention and 2 weeks' postintervention as the outcome measure. The EMDR group obtained respective pre-and postintervention mean scores of 23.5 ± 5.2 and 11±2.1, whereas the guided imagery group obtained scores of 24 ± 3 and 15.3 ± 2.3, and the control group obtained scores of 24.2 ± 3.3 and 23.6 ± 3. Pairwise comparisons showed statistically significant differences in insomnia severity between patients from each group, with the EMDR group experiencing a greater reduction in insomnia severity than guided imagery. EMDR and guided imagery were both effective in reducing insomnia severity in RA patients, although the degree of insomnia reduction for patients from the EMDR group was greater than that of the guided imagery group.

Little is known of the usability of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) as an intervention for those experiencing psychosis. This study aimed to explore therapists' experience of using EMDR with this population. A qualitative design was employed using an inductive approach and a thematic analysis. Twenty therapists, who had used EMDR with this client group, took part in a semi-structured interview to explore their experiences of the intervention. Key themes were generated from the data: (a) familiarity with psychosis and EMDR, (b) acceptability of EMDR, (c) the importance of systemic factors, and (d) keeping key therapy principles in mind. Findings highlighted the importance of supervision to build therapist confidence, the value of the multidisciplinary team, and the need for a shift in beliefs surrounding the usefulness of EMDR to the wider system. Recommendations for individuals and services are provided.

In recent years, different studies have observed a strong association between chronic pain (CP) and psychological trauma. Therefore, a trauma-focused psychotherapy, such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), could be an innovative treatment option. The aim of this pilot study was to assess whether a specific EMDR protocol for CP leads to (a) a reduction in pain intensity, (b) an improvement in anxiety and depressive symptoms, and (c) an improvement in quality of life. 28 CP patients were randomly assigned to EMDR + treatment as usual (TAU; n = 14) or to TAU alone (n = 14). Patients in the EMDR group received 12 psychotherapeutic sessions of 90 minutes over 3 months. Pain intensity was measured using the Visual Analog Scale and the Pain Disability index, quality of life using the EQ-5D-5L, and anxiety and depressive symptoms using the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Scale. Measures were taken for both conditions at pre- and post-treatment, and a follow-up in the EMDR condition was taken at 3 months post-treatment. Patients in the EMDR group showed significantly reduced pain intensity and improved quality of life and anxiety and depressive symptoms compared to TAU alone at post-treatment. Improvements were largely maintained at 3-month follow-up. This study suggests that EMDR may be an effective and safe psychological intervention to be used within the multidisciplinary treatment plan of patients with CP.

Research on psychotherapy with children is generally underrepresented in the empirical literature. Currently, there are four randomized clinical trials (RCT) evaluating EMDR in individual psychotherapy with traumatized children—two for children diagnosed with PTSD and two for children presenting with symptoms of posttraumatic stress. Since the first case studies of EMDR with children were published in 1993, 19 studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria for this review. The gold standards identified by Foa and Meadows (1997) to assess the methodology of studies designed to treat trauma were applied to the research on EMDR with children. This analysis discusses the challenges to conducting research on psychotherapy with children including the debate regarding the assessment and diagnosis of PTSD in children. Recommendations for future studies designed with methodological rigor are suggested to investigate the efficacy of EMDR with children who have experienced trauma and other mental health symptoms and diagnoses.

The purpose of this pre-experimental case study was to explore the efficacy and safety of the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (G-TEP) in the psychological treatment of cancer survivors and its potential effects on posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Participants (N = 35) were patients with various types of cancer, in different stages, initial or recurring, with diagnosis or oncology treatment received within the past year. Following an individual psychoeducational intake session, participants received two 90-minute EMDR G-TEP sessions, administered on consecutive days. They were randomly assigned to a treatment group or a delayed treatment group. Assessments were administered at pre, post, and follow-up using the Short PostTraumatic Stress Disorder Interview (SPRINT), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Repeated measures comparisons of PTSD symptoms, anxiety, and depression revealed significant differences between pretest and posttest, with most results maintained at follow-up. Pre-follow-up effect sizes showed medium effects. These promising results suggest the value in providing a lengthier course of treatment. They support the need for research with large sample, randomized clinical trials to examine the viability of providing EMDR G-TEP in the psychological treatment of cancer survivors. No serious adverse effects were reported and we conclude that the EMDR G-TEP may be effective and safe in the psychological treatment of an oncology population.

Este artículo presenta una revisión completa de literatura acerca del impacto neurocognitivo del trastorno por estrés postraumático (TEPT) e informa acerca de un caso de estudio único cuantitativo, el cual investigó si la terapia de reprocesamiento y desensibilización a través del movimiento ocular (EMDR por sus siglas en inglés) cambiaría las respuestas neuropsicológicas y fisiológicas de una paciente de 18 años de edad de sexo femenino diagnosticada con TEPT comórbido y trastorno depresivo mayor. Se proporcionaron once sesiones de terapia EMDR, de 90 minutos cada una, administradas una vez a la semana. Utilizamos equipo de bioretroalimentación (Equipo Infiniti-ProComp5) para obtener registros de frecuencia cardiaca y conductividad de la piel mientras que la paciente estaba en fases de reprocesamiento de la terapia EMDR. Los resultados mostraron una disminución de ritmo cardiaco entre las bases de referencia del principio y fin del tratamiento. Las evaluaciones neuropsicológicas de atención, memoria y las funciones ejecutivas del cerebro mostraron deficiencias de pre-tratamiento en los procesos de atención, velocidad de procesamiento de información y memoria de trabajo, así como mejora en el post-tratamiento de estas funciones cognitivas con diferencias significativas en la Prueba de Adición del Ritmo de Serie Auditiva (PASAT, siglas en inglés). Encontramos una disminución importante pos-tratamiento en los puntajes promedio del Inventario de Depresión de Beck-II y en la Escala de Experiencias Disociativas. Además, la paciente no mostró signos de TEPT después de la intervención basado en la Escala Global de Estrés Postraumático. Discutimos como la mejora de los síntomas de TEPT está asociada con los resultados neurocognitivos mejorados.

In this article, a document presenting a planned psychiatric building in Sweden was analyzed using critical discourse analysis. Focus was on how biomedical perspectives, administration, logistics, and efficiency is materialized in the building. The building is planned without personal consulting rooms or office places. Text and images were understood with reference to Augé's concept of nonplaces; places that are void of meaning. Outpatient practice is portrayed as equal, neglecting power imbalances, diversity, and context. Clinicians and clients are expected to be in transit in an environment centered on transparency and technology, enabling surveillance and control. Encounters and dialogues are never mentioned, while electroconvulsive therapy has its own place both in the document and in the building. Technology is central and presented as necessary for future needs. The idea that current psychiatry represents a story of constant progress, providing precise diagnosis and effective treatment is materialized in the building.

Persuasive design, the use of behavioral psychology in digital devices and applications to alter human behavior, is employed in entertainment and educational technologies that occupy a great proportion of the lives of children and adolescents. A primary purpose of persuasive design is to increase the time spent using social media, video game, and other entertainment technologies in order to increase business revenue. This adds to children's and adolescents' health risks, as excessive recreational screen time has been associated with both physical (sleep, weight) and mental health (depression, anxiety, compulsive use, and inattention) issues for children and adolescents. Given the potential for negative health outcomes, it is necessary for the field of psychology to acknowledge, educate, and take action against the use of persuasive design in platforms typically used by children and adolescents.

Ethical psychological practice is essential for beneficiaries’ protection and welfare. This survey research addressed a specific issue, namely compliance with and beliefs about ethical principles and standards of psychologists from the Romanian national law enforcement and firefighting organizations. A total of 140 psychologists, 60.08% of target group members, rated frequency and ethical character of 139 ethically questionable behaviors. Several positive ethical elements were found as lack of almost universal behaviors and many rare behaviors (46.04%). Among the ethical problems found were counted: behaviors and beliefs related to the involvement in ethical practice promotion among psychologists and to the interaction with coordinating and homologous psychologists in the professional or ethical impasse situations. The highest quality ratings of resources for ethical practice guiding and training were made for Code of Deontology and the lowest for legal cases. Several solutions were proposed to improve ethical professional awareness and practice of target group members. The present research showed the difficulty of finding benchmarks to interpret results of an ethical research and the need to approach ethical issues not only from the quantitative view but also from qualitative and/or transcultural view.

Purpose: During the past decade, concern with student bullying incidents has increased. When schools do not halt bullying, victims increasingly choose litigation as a remedy. Although the professional literature identifies the pertinent factors associated with bullying victimization, the available legal analyses have not kept pace. To identify focus areas for preventing bullying litigation, this study quantifies the frequency and outcomes for bullying cases disaggregated by the victims’ school level, protected status classification, and types of bullying actions. Methodology: We analyzed the 239 student bullying court decisions for the 20-year period 1995–2014, identifying the outcomes for each specific legal claim as well as each victim’s school level, protected status classification, and the types of bullying actions. Outcomes were conclusive if the plaintiff or defendant decisively prevailed and inconclusive if additional legal action was required for resolution. The analysis identified the most plaintiff-favorable outcome for each case and disaggregated by these three variables. Findings: The frequency of bullying cases was highest among middle school students, students asserting gender-based claims, and students experiencing both verbal and physical bullying actions. Conclusive outcomes strongly favored district defendants. Conversely, claims based on perceived sexual orientation resulted in the highest rates of inconclusive outcomes. Implications: The pro-district outcomes skew suggests that school administrators should focus on bullying prevention as a matter of educational effectiveness. To the extent that legal defensibility is a significant factor, education leaders should focus their efforts on reducing bullying of middle school students and students displaying gender nonconformity.

Ethical training is a critical element of graduate education in Psychology. The importance of acculturation to the ethical guidelines of the profession cannot be minimized. Simultaneously, in North America at least, sensitivity to diversity is an important directive in our education of future clinicians. Consequently, it makes sense that understanding international Psychology ethics codes would be advantageous, to at least highlight the cultural context and relativity of ethics codes in general. Professors in Canada and the United States who teach ethics in their respective graduate schools were surveyed about their teaching of such codes and their opinions on the matter. Differences were found between Canada and the United States, although low response rates were noteworthy. The response data is examined qualitatively. Possible explanations for these findings include the possibility that teaching international ethics codes is seen as of limited importance or the use of online questionnaires is not optimal for such endeavors.

Parmi les maladies potentiellement mortelles, le cancer est l'une des plus traumatisantes et des plus génératrices de détresse. Il impacte le sens même de l'identité de l'individu et perturbe chez lui des caractéristiques essentielles, en rapport direct avec la conscience de soi et le caractère unique de la personne. Il attaque l'intégrité physique des patients, amenant la question de la mort au premier plan, et peut mettre en cause directement leur sentiment d'appartenance aux micro- et macro-systèmes sociaux autour d'eux. Cet article souligne l'importance de comprendre que souffrance psychologique et douleur physique sont étroitement interconnectées et, dans le contexte de la psycho-oncologie, propose une perspective clinique basée sur l'approche de désensibilisation et de retraitement par les mouvements oculaires (EMDR), approche pour laquelle l'événement qu'est le cancer est inscrit dans l'histoire de vie du patient. L'EMDR est une approche thérapeutique fondée sur le modèle du traitement adaptatif de l'information (TAI). Le modèle TAI postule que la psychopathologie apparaît quand des expériences non traitées sont enregistrées dans leur propre réseau neuronal et se trouvent dans l'impossibilité de se connecter à d'autres réseaux plus adaptatifs. Dans cette perspective, on suppose que le noyau de la souffrance clinique est enchâssé dans ces souvenirs qui demeurent en suspens de façon dysfonctionnelle. Selon des articles scientifiques récents que nous présentons dans cet article, il semble que les traumas du passé et les traumas liés au cancer entretiennent un cercle vicieux entre la santé psychologique et physique de l'individu, et l'objectif de la thérapie EMDR est de briser ce cercle. De récentes recherches scientifiques avancent l'hypothèse que le thérapie EMDR est efficace au niveau psychologique comme au niveau physique. Cependant, à cause de l'hétérogénéité générale des protocoles de recherche, les résultats rapportés dans cet article soulignent la nécessité de mener d'autres recherches contrôlées afin de permettre une analyse plus complète.

Increasing numbers of public schools are adopting the use of mental health screening programs for the purpose of identifying suicidality or psychiatric conditions in children and teens. Concerned observers maintain that these programs commonly violate the requirements of federal law, because they fail to provide properly informed consent for evaluation and special services. This article presents a critical analysis of the requirements of informed consent in education, discusses the problems of consensus, and offers basic facts that might be communicated by pertinent authorities in order to facilitate state compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

The American Psychological Association Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; APA, 2017) privileges two trauma-focused treatments (TFTs)—Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE)—on scientific grounds, without considering the ethical issues posed by these treatments being relatively nonrelational and nonalliance building in nature. Fidelity to treatment protocol over clinical relationship building and alliance formation and maintenance can slot practitioners into an “I-it” therapeutic stance, depriving clients of real engagement and leaving them feeling objectified as standard cases of PTSD whose symptoms need to be tracked and managed. The high drop-out and failure to initiate treatment rates associated with TFTs ought to raise concerns about how their technique-heavy, protocol-driven methods, alienate practitioners, and the traumatized clients they serve.

The results of preliminary research investigating the application of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment in panic disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia suggests that reprocessing of past traumas produces significant reduction of anxiety and consequently, remission from panic attacks and avoidance behavior. This article describes the case study of a 30-year-old working professional where EMDR treatment, used to target early childhood traumas, led to reduction in symptoms of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Panic attacks diminished after 17 sessions of EMDR treatment, which followed Leeds’s treatment model. Treatment gains were maintained 5 years after termination. The study shows the value of solid preparation work, and of addressing the current triggers and recent events, before targeting historical traumas. EMDR worked as a first-line treatment to resolving the roots of the panic attacks, suggesting that the resolution of traumatic childhood memories can make a significant difference to current symptoms of panic disorder with agoraphobia.

Families living in poverty often do not have a choice but to live in impoverished neighborhoods. Low-income neighborhoods are typically characterized by poor-quality housing; ineffective schools; and a higher prevalence of crimes, drugs, and violence. For low-income families with children with special needs, living in areas of concentrated poverty is especially challenging. Owing to the isolation of such neighborhoods, residents often do not have access to quality supportive services and developmental opportunities for children with special needs. This lack of support predetermines the health outcome of a vulnerable child.

In the 50th anniversary issue of The Myth of Mental Illness, Szasz conceded that, conceptually, his argument had been ignored because of the promulgation that mental illnesses are diseases of the brain. Responding to a recent editorial by T. Benning in the British Journal of Psychiatry Bulletin, which is somewhat critical of Szasz’s conceptual arguments, we argue that such criticisms are inaccurate. We highlight how no mental illness stands up to pathological scrutiny, yet treatments can cause iatrogenesis. In addition, we elaborate on how Szasz argued that the false concept of mental illness results in legal fictions. It is therefore important to defend and restate Szasz’s main thesis and conceptual arguments in light of recent criticism.

This study compared the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) with an integrated cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention for grief. Nineteen participants (12 females and 7 males) who identified themselves as struggling with grief were randomly allocated to treatment conditions. Each participant was wait-listed for 7 weeks and then received 7 weeks of therapy. There were no significant improvements on any measure in the wait-list period. In contrast, participants in both treatment groups improved on measures of grief (η_p² = .47), trauma symptoms (η_p² = .60), and distress (η_p² = .34). There was no significant improvement in participants’ scores on a quality of life measure (η_p² = .11). Neither treatment approach produced better outcomes than the other. For those who scored in the clinical range at intake, 72% achieved clinical and reliable change on the grief measure and 82% on the trauma measure. The study had several strengths, including randomization to treatment condition, multiple therapists, formal assessment of treatment fidelity, and the pretreatment and follow-up assessments were conducted by researchers blind to treatment assignment. Overall, the findings indicate that EMDR and CBT are efficacious in assisting those struggling with grief, and that those individuals reporting higher levels of distress and lower levels of functioning may benefit the most from an intervention.

Of the many life-threatening illnesses, cancer can be one of the most traumatic and distressful. It impacts the individual’s sense of identity and interferes with essential features intrinsic to the person’s uniqueness and self-awareness. It attacks patients’ physical integrity, bringing death into the foreground and can directly threaten their sense of belonging to micro and macro social systems. This article stresses the importance of understanding that psychological pain and physical suffering are closely interconnected and, within the context of psycho-oncology, proposes a clinical perspective based on the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) approach, in which the cancer event is nested in the history of life of the patient. EMDR is a therapeutic approach guided by the adaptive information processing (AIP) model. The AIP model postulates that psychopathology results when unprocessed experiences are stored in their own neural network, incapable of connecting with other more adaptive networks. In this perspective, the core of the clinical suffering is hypothesized as embedded in these dysfunctionally suspended memories. In line with recent scientific literature presented in this article, it appears that previous and cancer-related traumas maintain a vicious cycle between psychological and physical health, and the aim of EMDR therapy is to break this cycle. Recent scientific research has hypothesized that EMDR therapy is effective at both the psychological and physical levels. However, because of the consistent heterogeneity of the research design, the findings reported in this article highlight the need for further controlled research for more comprehensive examination.

Después de asegurarse de que haya seguridad, el tratamiento de las víctimas de violencia interpersonal (VIP) suele centrarse en las experiencias adversas y traumáticas, y en las emociones negativas relacionadas. Además, en muchos casos, la idealización del perpetrador y la emoción positiva desadaptativa son elementos iniciales que también han de tenerse en cuenta. El concepto de información almacenada disfuncionalmente (DSI, siglas en inglés de Dysfunctionally Stored Information)–descrito en el modelo de Procesamiento Adaptativo de la Información (PAI)–va más allá de las emociones negativas desadaptativas de los recuerdos de experiencias adversas y puede incluir defensas disfuncionales como emoción positiva desadaptativa y experiencias vitales idealizadas. La idealización autodestructiva, disfuncional e irreal en una relación puede tratase haciendo diana, con tandas focalizadas de estimulación bilateral, sobre recuerdos específicos de emociones positivas que son el origen de la idealización distorsionada. De esta manera, la paciente es capaz de desarrollar una resolución adaptativa, es decir, una percepción más precisa tanto de los acontecimientos pasados como de la naturaleza actual de la relación. Este abordaje para trabajar las defensas de la idealización se ilustra con tres ejemplos de casos de mujeres que se sentían ambivalentes con respecto a dejar a un compañero muy abusivo.

This article introduces a Wellness First Approach to addressing adverse community experiences and encouraging community healing and resilience. Structural violence and traumatic conditions can contribute to poor mental health outcomes for communities.However, communities have the capacity to amplify protective factors to mitigate the negative effects of adverse community experiences, toxic stress, and trauma. The authors offer that a better understanding of these experiences can transform the ways mental health is approached. Rather than predominantly focus on prevention and treatment practices on an individual level, there is a need to engage in prevention and healing through an ecological approach that includes whole communities. Recommendations of frameworks for mental health and well-being promotion that are aligned with a Wellness First Approach are provided.

On pense que l’efficacité particulière de l’EMDR (désensibilisation et retraitement par les mouvements oculaires) dans le traitement de l’état de stress post-traumatique résulte de changements dans l’état cérébral et mental du sujet qui sont induits par la stimulation sensorielle bilatérale, mais la nature spécifique de ces changements et leurs conséquences demeurent inconnues. La possibilité que la stimulation bilatérale induise un état psychologique et cérébral semblable à celui qui est induit par les mouvements oculaires rapides, lors du sommeil paradoxal, est corroborée par des études montrant que le sommeil favorise certaines formes de traitement du souvenir, sans doute nécessaires à la résolution du traumatisme. Ces études, parallèlement à des recherches directes sur l’effet de la stimulation bilatérale sur le traitement des souvenirs et des émotions, et à des études comparatives identifiant les caractéristiques que doit revêtir la stimulation bilatérale pour traiter efficacement les traumatismes, nous conduiront finalement à comprendre le fondement neurobiologique de l’EMDR.

Experiencing cancer is a peculiar stressor within the infrastructure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because this debilitating disease involves ongoing stressors and is both acute and potentially chronic. The experience can include a wide range of associated adverse events, such as tumor detection, diagnosis, severity of disease, and prognosis; aggressive treatment; disfigurement and bodily dysfunction; side effects of treatment; impaired physical, social, and occupational functioning; and sometimes, recurrence and diagnosis of terminal illness. This article provides a detailed description of the clinical application of the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Integrative Group Treatment Protocol (EMDR-IGTP) Adapted for Adolescents and Adults Living with Ongoing Traumatic Stress for the patients with cancer. This protocol administers the eight phases of EMDR individual treatment to a group of patients using an art therapy format (i.e., drawings) and the butterfly hug (a self-administered bilateral stimulation method to process traumatic material). A previous study (Jarero et al., 2015) showed that after 6 sessions of EMDR-IGTP, there was a significant decrease in PTSD symptoms related to the diagnosis and treatment of different types of cancer in adult women. Effects were maintained at 90-day follow-up. In this article, we discuss how this protocol can be used to effectively provide intensive EMDR treatment to large groups of patients, and we provide detailed instructions for its provision to address one of the major psychological dimensions of cancer: the ongoing traumatic stress responses experienced by patients with cancer. A clinical example illustrates the treatment process.

Since its inception in 1989, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has evolved from a simple desensitization technique to treat posttraumatic stress disorder to a comprehensive psychotherapy approach that treats a broad range of clinical problems in a variety of contexts and with diverse populations. This position paper is the result of a two-year project by the Council of Scholars' “What is EMDR?” workgroup that was tasked with the particular challenge of defining EMDR therapy, as innovations in the field continue to develop and the need for a consensus definition has become essential. In addition to proposing categories of EMDR therapy, that is, EMDR psychotherapy, EMDR treatment protocols, and EMDR-derived techniques, we identified core elements of EMDR therapy that can serve as a guideline to evaluate future innovations. Additionally, with concepts and procedures evolving over the years, some of the language needed revising to be consistent with current practices. The adoption of these three categories of treatment by the EMDR community would have broad-reaching implications that would generate more qualitative as well as quantitative studies in all categories. For training and clinical practice, it offers clinicians the opportunity to train with a focus on their particular treatment setting in addition to the foundational training that would be universal to all EMDR-trained clinicians. Finally, the interplay in the Council of Scholars between the “What is EMDR?” workgroup and the research, clinical practice, and training and accreditation workgroups will lead to further developments as these areas all inform one another.

The nature of schizophrenia has changed markedly over the past half-century because the drugs used to treat it aggravate the disability it causes. This aggravation results from (1) the brain damage caused by the drugs themselves and (2) the replacement of the doctor-patient relationship, psychiatry’s most important therapeutic tool—within which patients’ problems and behaviors should be addressed—by a narrow psychiatric focus on drug effects upon symptoms. Psychiatry today thus resembles 19th century obstretrics, in which, as Ignaz Semmelweis pointed out then, physicians’ activities harm the patients they care for.

El trastorno narcisista de la personalidad y los rasgos narcisistas están asociados con conductas egoístas y falta de empatía hacia los demás. Los pacientes con alguna de estas presentaciones iniciales en terapia muestran un perfil centrado en sí mismos y una falta de empatía o preocupación por el sufrimiento que pueden causar a otras personas, pero esto es sólo parte de la historia. En ocasiones, la falta de empatía y el egoísmo son sólo una defensa. Para entender completamente este problema, también es necesario ser consciente de los problemas subyacentes de autodefinición que llevan a las manifestaciones conductuales del narcisismo. Como en cualquier problema psicológico, el tratamiento con la terapia de desensibilización y reprocesamiento por movimientos oculares exige comprender la manera en la que las primeras experiencias dan lugar a los futuros síntomas. Es fundamental comprender el recorrido desde las experiencias tempranas a las características narcisistas (incluidas las presentaciones encubiertas) para poder realizar una buena conceptualización del caso, así como entender las estructuras mentales de defensa que impiden acceder a las experiencias adversas nucleares que subyacen a los síntomas.

Social media is regularly used by a growing number of graduate students and licensed psychologists. This expands opportunities for professional growth and development for many, though it also brings forward a growing number of ethical challenges as personal and professional lives transform, blur, and merge online. This study examined social media policies of 46 American Psychological Association-accredited university-based professional psychology doctoral programs in clinical psychology to better understand the ethical challenges and protections that doctoral programs can implement to protect graduate students, faculty, and the public. Findings indicated that many university-based doctoral programs in clinical psychology do not have clear social media policies. Results and implications of the findings and how they relate to doctoral education will be discussed during this article.

This article presents four brief reports that illustrate EMDR’s potential in addressing a range of pathologies and problems. These include traumatized groups, families and couples, sex offenders, and individuals with performance anxiety. Each brief report provides a short summary of the research, highlights current EMDR research, and points out what is needed for future investigations. Preliminary results suggest that the EMDR–integrative group treatment protocol may be an effective means of providing mental health care to large groups of people affected by critical incidents. The report titled “EMDR in Couples and Family Therapy” provides an overview of the field and describes the various ways in which EMDR is being incorporated. The presenting issue with performance anxiety is debilitating evaluation anxiety at the prospect of having to perform some important activity in front of an audience that matters a great deal to the client. Sex offender treatment is enhanced by an effective means of resolving psychological mechanisms that contribute to the dynamics of the offense chain.

To test the psychometric properties of the Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale (SUDS), this study analyzed the data from 61 patients treated with EMDR. The pretreatment self-reported questionnaires, the in-session records of EMDR, and the Clinical Global Impression–Change (CGI-C) scale at the termination of EMDR were reviewed. The initial score of the SUDS at the first session was significantly correlated with the patient’s level of depression, the state anxiety, and distress from the impact of events. The final score of the SUDS at the first session was significantly correlated with the CGI-C score at termination. Consequently, this study confirmed that the SUDS in EMDR sessions has good psychometric properties.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) was used with 11 children who developed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after road traffic accidents. All improved such that none met criteria for PTSD on standardized assessments after an average of only 2.4 sessions. Significant improvements in PTSD, anxiety, and depression were found both immediately after treatment and at follow-up. Attentional, memory, and attributional processes associated with PTSD were assessed and their relationship to therapeutic change examined. Treatment was associated with a significant trauma-specific reduction in attentional bias on the modified Stroop task, with results apparent both immediately after therapy and at follow-up.

The literature on the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for treating depression is heterogeneous due to research design, quality issues, and trials methodology. The current meta-analysis seeks to examine EMDR for depression with the aim of answering the aforementioned limitations. Thirty-nine studies were included for analysis after a review of the relevant literature. Univariate meta-regressions were run to examine dose-response and the effect of moderating variables. Subanalysis for primary and secondary depression showed a large, significant, and heterogeneous effect-size estimates, where EMDR significantly improved symptoms of depression in contrast to all control types. At post hoc, data were reexamined and a significant and large, yet heterogeneous, effect-size estimate emerged between the EMDR and control arm after the removal of two outliers [Hedges' g = 0.70, 95% CI =0.50–0.89, p-value < .01, I² = 70%, K = 37]. This is the first meta-analysis examining for the effect of EMDR comparing to various control modalities on depression with dose-response. We found (a) that studies were balanced at onset in terms of depression severity, and (b) a large and significant effect of EMDR on depression at the end of trials. Additionally, the significance of the aggregate effect-size estimate at the end of trials was unchanged by the intake of psychotropic medications, reported demographic variables, or EMDR methodology.

There are commonalities between neurologic syndromes arising from lesions of the parietal cortex and psychiatric syndromes secondary to psychological trauma. Additionally some posttraumatic syndromes may reflect functional disruption of parietal areas. Directional or bilateral alternating peripheral sensory stimulation appear to assist in the amelioration of a wide range of clinical conditions, including the neglect syndrome and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. It is posited that the stimulation may exert its effect through activation of parietal higher-order functions. The activation may result in an integration of sensory information and an updating of the current representation of person and space, which incorporates an awareness of current body reality, sense of self, and world view. It is hypothesized that the EMDR procedure is ideally constructed to facilitate parietal activation through multimodal sensory stimulation, attention and episodic memory retrieval and focus on internal and external body, space, and self. Further investigations and an integration of data between disciplines are suggested, in order to expand our range of effective treatments.