Objectives/Hypothesis To determine the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) as a treatment for tinnitus. Study Design Single‐site prospective interventional clinical trial at a university hospital in the United Kingdom. Methods Participants were provided with tEMDR. This is a bespoke EMDR protocol that was developed specifically to treat individuals with tinnitus. Participants received a maximum of 10 sessions of tEMDR. Outcome measures including tinnitus questionnaires and mood questionnaires were recorded at baseline, discharge, and at 6 months postdischarge. Results Tinnitus Handicap Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory scores demonstrated a statistically significant improvement at discharge after EMDR intervention (P = .0005 and P = .0098, respectively); this improvement was maintained at 6 months postdischarge. There was also a moderate but not significant (P = .0625) improvement in Beck Anxiety Inventory scores. Conclusions This study has demonstrated that the provision of tEMDR has resulted in a clinically and statistically significant improvement in tinnitus symptoms in the majority of those participants who took part. Furthermore, the treatment effect was maintained at 6 months after treatment ceased. This study is of particular interest, as the study protocol was designed to be purposefully inclusive of a diverse range of tinnitus patients. However, as a small uncontrolled study, these results do not consider the significant effects of placebo and therapist interaction. Larger high‐quality studies are essential for the verification of these preliminary results. Level of Evidence 4 Laryngoscope, 129:2384–2390, 2019

Tinnitus is a common and distressing symptom affecting at least 10% of the population. It is poorly understood. There are many proposed therapies but a significant lack of well-controlled trials. This study is a secondary analysis from our recent study to determine the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy as a treatment for tinnitus. It was designed as a single-site prospective interventional clinical trial and took place at a teaching hospital in the United Kingdom. Participants received a maximum of 10 sessions of EMDR. The EMDR used was a bespoke protocol: EMDR-for-tinnitus protocol (tEMDR). Outcome measures included evidence-based tinnitus and mood questionnaires recorded at baseline, discharge, and at 6 months post-discharge. The main outcome measure was the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, and scores demonstrated a statistically significant improvement. Secondary analyses conducted indicate statistically significant improvement for tinnitus patients with and without probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnoses. There was no significant decrease in depression and anxiety measures, however these were at the minimal range at the start. The purpose of this article is to describe the rationale behind the use of EMDR in tinnitus, the process of administrating a bespoke EMDR protocol, and the differences between tinnitus sufferers with differing experiences of trauma. To date our study is one of only two published studies investigating the use of EMDR for tinnitus; we therefore introduce an evolving and exciting application for EMDR therapy.