EYE-MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING TREATMENT FOR COMBAT PTSD

Four Vietnam veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder we re treated with 12 sessions of eye movement desensitization and reproc essing (EMDR), targeting their combat memories. An extensive multimoda l assessment battery showed very substantial clinical improvement for three of the veterans along a number of psychological dimensions that characterize the disorder, but not along several physiological paramet ers. A fourth veteran showed only very modest changes. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of several issues, including num bers of treatment sessions and differential effects of treatment on co gnitive-behavioral and physiological symptoms.