The EMDR Protocol for Recent Critical Incidents: Application in a Disaster Mental Health Continuum of Care Context

Abstract

Event Scale (IES) were then provided with the eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) Protocol for Recent Critical Incidents (EMDR-PRECI), a single-session modified EMDR protocol for the treatment of recent trauma. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: immediate treatment group and waitlist/delayed treatment group. There was no improvement in the waitlist/ delayed treatment group, and scores of the immediate treatment group participants were significantly improved, compared with waitlist/delayed treatment group paticipants. One session of EMDR-PRECI produced significant improvement on symptoms of posttraumatic stress for both the immediate-treatment and waitlist/delayed treatment groups, with results maintained at 12-week follow-up, even though frightening aftershocks continued to occur frequently. This study provides preliminary evidence in support of the protocol's efficacy in a disaster mental health continuum of care context. More controlled research is recommended to evaluate further the efficacy of this intervention.

The Effectiveness of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy to Treat Symptoms Following Trauma in Timor Leste

“…Although there is still no consensus on the use of EMDR or any treatment post-large-scale disaster (Gelbach & Davis, 2007), our findings offer evidence for the use of EMDR cross-culturally. Findings are consistent with research in which EMDR (Jarero et al, 2011;Kutz et al, 2008;Wadaa et al, 2010) and other Western therapies (Başoǧlu et al, 2005;Zang et al, 2013) have been used effectively to treat trauma following natural and man-made disaster events cross-culturally. Furthermore, this research supports the small body of naturalistic on-the-ground postdisaster treatment projects that back the use of EMDR in reducing PTSD and depressive symptoms in various cultures.…”

“…Consequently, in this study the presence of a Western therapist may have facilitated a sense of confidentiality. More broadly, the issue of trust and confidentiality pose a significant challenge to the dissemination of therapies, including EMDR cross-culturally (Jarero et al, 2011).…”

“…Most research has examined the effectiveness of these therapies in developed Western populations, and there is less evidence for their use cross‐culturally. There is some evidence, however, primarily from uncontrolled research, that EMDR therapy can be effective when used to treat disaster‐related PTSD in adults who experienced earthquakes in Turkey (Konuk, Knipe, Eke, Yuksek, & Yurtsever, ) and Mexico (Jarero, Artigas, & Luber, ), Indian Ocean Tsunami survivors treated in Sri Lanka (Errebo, Knipe, Forte, Karlin, & Altayli, ), and other trauma events in Israel (Kutz, Resnik, & Dekel, ) and Palestine (Zaghrout‐Hodali, Alissa, & Dodgeson, ). In addition, earthquake survivors in Turkey and China were treated effectively with single‐session behavior therapy (Başoğlu, Şalcioğlu, Livanou, Kalender, & Acar, ) and brief narrative exposure therapy (Zang, Hunt, & Cox, ).…”

PTSD, Immunoglobulins, and Cortisol Changes after the Provision of the EMDR - PRECI to Females Patients with Cancer-Related PTSD Diagnosis

“…The EMDR Protocol for Recent Critical Incidents and Ongoing Traumatic Stress (EMDR-PRECI) is an eight-phase and three-pronged protocol developed in the field to treat recent (even hours after a trauma) or prolonged adverse experiences where related stressful events continue for an extended time and where there is no post-trauma safety period for traumatic memory consolidation [22]. Shapiro recommends the EMDR-PRECI "for an extended postdisaster period to address situations in which there is ongoing trauma and therefore no subsequent period of safety" [7] (p. 397).…”

“…EMDR-PRECI conceptualizes the adverse experience as an extended event, with a continuum of ongoing external stressful events with similar emotions and physical sensations, interfering with memory consolidation and creating a cumulative trauma exposure memory network of linked pathogenic memories with similar emotional, somatic, sensorial, and cognitive information, that extends into the present moment, and often producing maladaptive/catastrophic concerns about the future or flashforward [23][24][25][26]. For more information about this protocol, see Jarero, Artigas, and Luber [22].…”