Efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in the treatment of specific phobias: Four single‐case studies on dental phobia

Abstract

A series of single-case experiments was used to evaluate the application of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to traumatically induced dental phobia. Following two to three sessions of EMDR treatment, three of the four patients demonstrated substantially reduced self-reported and observer-rated anxiety, reduced credibility of dysfunctional beliefs concerning dental treatment, and significant behavior changes. These gains were maintained at six weeks follow-up. In all four cases, the clinical diagnosis present at pretreatment was not present at posttreatment at a clinical level. All patients actually underwent the dental treatment they feared most within three weeks following EMDR treatment. The findings support the notion that EMDR can be an effective treatment alternative for phobic conditions with a trauma-related etiology.

EMDR and the role of the clinician in psychotherapy evaluation: Towards a more comprehensive integration of science and practice

“…The absence of such research has led reviewers to call for a more extensive evaluation of the various phobic conditions as well as the development of other treatment methods (Öst, 1997). The small case series on traumatically induced dental phobias described in this article (De Jongh, van den Oord, & Ten Broeke, 2002) constitutes one of the few reports on this reportedly resistant population. Further, the authors suggest that differential effects found in studies on EMDR and other phobia treatments may be due to the etiological nature of the phobia, and discuss what they believe to be important criteria for treatment selection.…”

Preliminary Evidence for the Efficacy of EMDR in Treating Generalized Anxiety Disorder

“…They suggest that EMDR may be useful in treating chronic pain (e.g., Grant & Threfl o, 2002;Schneider, Hofmann, Rost, & Shapiro, 2007), body image disturbances (e.g., McGoldrick, Begum, & Brown, this issue), specifi c phobias with a traumatic origin (e.g., de Jongh, van den Oord, & ten Broeke, 2002), "internalized shame" (Balcom, Call, & Pearlman, 2000), affect dysregulation (Korn & Leeds, 2002), borderline personality disorder (Brown & Shapiro, 2006), and PTSD-related anger and guilt (Stapleton, Taylor, & Asmundson, 2006). So far, no study has addressed the use of EMDR for treating generalized anxiety disorder.…”

EMDR and the Anxiety Disorders: Exploring the Current Status

“…These demonstrate positive effects on both fear and avoidance in claustrophobia and dental phobia (de Jongh, van den Oord, & ten Broeke, 2002;Lohr, Tolin, & Kleinknecht, 1996).…”