EMDR Therapy Quarterly

I promised in the previous issue to shine the light on intensive EMDR therapy, so I am delighted to be showcasing the preliminary results from an intensive trauma service for serving police officers. Back in the summer of 2022 Rachel Rogers started a new residential service under the auspices of Police Care UK. Having now treated three separate cohorts of police officers she presents the background and early findings which are hugely encouraging.

The vast majority of officers (93%) returned to work and (87%) lost their complex PTSD diagnosis. Well done Rachel and team. Information about Police Care UK can be found here and I wish them continued success as they continue this work.

Some of you will remember that about a year ago ‘CBT Today’ mistakenly published an article that appeared critical of EMDR. The editor did issue an apology for publishing a draft article (Elliott, 2022), but has since declined to publish the revision. Dr Marta de Madariaga Lopez, who is a member of the scientific and research committee has substantially revised this article on the use of cognitive functioning as an outcome measure in therapy and I am pleased to publish it in this issue.

I am grateful to Clare Carter for sharing a timely review (since 2018) exploring the role of eye movements in EMDR from a working memory perspective. One of her conclusions is that the efficacy of therapy is increased when trained therapists stay faithful to a protocol. This was one of the main themes of the EMDR UK conference which was held in March this year in Glasgow (and online).  The message from the keynote speakers and the clinicians who ran the workshops was that the standard protocol is sufficient and that with some adaptations relevant to particular client presentations it can be even more effective.

It is encouraging to see that members who are new to writing for publication are willing to cut their teeth in ETQ. Thank you to Jordan Mcphail and Charles Hamblet who have shared their experience at the EMDR UK annual conference. I would encourage anyone to have a go. I am currently updating the instructions to authors to help in the process and would love to hear from readers who have news, views and interesting cases that will stimulate informed discussion about EMDR research and practice.