STATISTICAL AND RELIABLE CHANGE WITH EYE-MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION ANDREPROCESSING - TREATING TRAUMA WITHIN A VETERAN POPULATION

Fifty-one war veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatolo gy were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: two sessions of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), an equivalent p rocedure without EMDR, or a standard psychiatric support control condi tion. There was an overall significant main effect of time from pre- t o posttreatment, with a reduction in symptomatology for all groups. Ho wever, no statistically significant differences were found between the groups. Participants in the two treatment conditions were more likely to display reliable improvement in trauma symptomatology than subject s in the cont;ol group. By 6-month follow-up, reductions in symptomato logy had dissipated and there were no statistical or reliable differen ces between the two treatment groups. Overall, the results indicated t hat, with this war veteran population, improvement rates were less tha n has been reported in the past. Also, where improvements were found, eye movements were not likely to be the mechanism of change. Rather, t he results imply that other nonspecific or therapeutic processes may a ccount for any beneficial effects of EMDR.