EMDR Treatment for Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Study

Abstract

The majority of people who experience mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) have a healthy recovery, where initial somatic, cognitive, psychological, and behavioral mTBI-related symptoms resolve naturally within hours or days. Unfortunately, a significant minority of people unfortunately develop persistent symptoms referred to as persistent Post Concussion Syndrome (pPCS), often causing severe long-term reduction in wellbeing and daily function. Psychological and neuropsychological treatments are typically limited to antidepressants, psycho-education on mTBI and pPCS, basic neuro-rehabilitative cognitive compensatory strategies, traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or no treatment at all. This paper discusses a single case study which demonstrates how Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy might provide psychological improvement in clients who sustain mTBI who develop pPCS. The case example describes a 57-year-old man who sustained a mTBI from a serious road traffic collision as a pedestrian, and who developed pPCS. Treatment included nine, 1.5-hour EMDR sessions across a 5-month period (1st being an assessment). Measures of psychological symptom change and client feedback were taken at pretreatment, midtreatment, posttreatment, and aftertreatment had ceased to gauge long-term status. Measures were taken at 18-month follow-up and 4-year review (which followed litigation settlement). The novel viability for the application of EMDR for this client group is discussed.