Summer 2024
By Beverly Coghlan
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The EMDR Publications Database has been developed collaboratively using the expertise of the Sheffield Centre for health and Related Research (SCHARR) and is provided as a free resource for Association members. The number of members signing up to use the database has increased to almost 800, and hopefully, as reports of its usefulness spread, more of you will use it as a resource to support your clinical and research work. You can learn how to access the database here.
The EMDR Publications Database is a collection of peer-reviewed research and dissertations/theses focusing on EMDR. It contains 1943 references, many of which have access to the full text. References in the database are categorised by keywords or tags relating to the clinical area and study type, allowing for easy browsing. The database can also be searched by terms of interest.
The most recent update to the EMDR Publications Database was in July 2024, and 71 recent publications were found. The search was conducted on these international databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and PTSDpubs. Thirty-one items were queried for inclusion, and of these, 22 were excluded.
There were some notable exclusions, and I thought that it might be interesting for readers to hear about some of these. I receive suggestions quite frequently about items that are missing, and most frequently this is because the article does not fit the inclusion criteria that the Scientific and Research Committee (SRC) devised. The database is designed to be an academic and clinical resource that hosts only items that fulfil the following criteria:
| Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria |
| The study is about eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) | The study is not about EMDR |
| Peer-reviewed literature | Research that is not peer-reviewed, including article pre-prints |
| The study is one of the following study types: systematic review randomised controlled trial clinical trial economic evaluation qualitative research observational study (e.g., cohort, cross-sectional, case-control) case series/case reports/studies meta-analysis network meta-analysis research protocol dissertation or thesis (published since 2015) guidelines | Publication types other than those listed in the inclusion criteria, including: letters, comments, editorials books and book chapters conference abstracts pre-prints |
This might surprise some readers, but the rationale is that anyone doing a search on the database will find only peer-reviewed evidence. It does not mean that other papers, which are largely opinions and reviews that do not conform to international publication guidelines, and therefore do not meet the rigorous process of peer review, are not important. There is, of course, a place for such literature, but the SRC reasoned that researchers and clinicians need to base their practice foremost on evidence.
Part of the process for including items in the EMDR database is review and tagging (or identifying keywords). After the searches have been run, the team at SCHARR reviews all the abstracts and tags them according to our predetermined keywords. Some do not fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria exactly, so they are sent to me for review and a decision.
Below are some of the papers that were queried this quarter, with the decision on inclusion or exclusion.
A somewhat troubling paper, that mentions EMDR in the abstract but was excluded, is a survey of European clinician treatment choices for PTSD (Kuzman et al., 2024). Clinicians were presented with two specially created clinical vignettes describing two typical cases of PTSD – one referred to civil trauma and the other to war trauma. The clinicians (835 psychiatrists and 113 psychiatry specialist trainees from 39 European countries) were asked about diagnoses, assessment tools and treatment approaches. The results are disturbing, to say the least.
Despite almost (only) 80% of participants correctly identifying the PTSD diagnosis, between 80 and 90% recommended pharmacological interventions. Almost half of the participants stated that they did not adhere to clinical guidelines (either national or international), and none of the guidelines that were named recommended the use of antidepressants or mood stabilisers. There were differences in response across different European regions, suggesting that access to trauma-focused therapies may not be available and that other factors such as general views, customs and other available resources will have played a part.
The European Psychiatric Association funded and carried out the study, and it strongly recommends promoting educational activities to support best practice, and this is something that perhaps should be part of the EMDR Europe educational strategy. After all, what’s the point of working to gain recognition in international and national guidelines if they are largely ignored? The article was excluded because the subject was not about EMDR.
The title of this brief report (Magne, 2024) would appear at first sight to warrant inclusion in the database. It is likely to be of interest to many practitioners, but it has been excluded because it is an opinion piece.
The authors of this paper (Tait et al., 2024) reasoned that “due to individual differences, some patients with posttraumatic stress disorder may be more likely to benefit from one evidence-based psychological therapy than another.” The paper tested the effectiveness of a machine learning model to predict treatment outcomes of patient-preferred interventions (trauma-focused CBT or EMDR) for individuals with PTSD. Having a preferred treatment did not lead to better outcomes for patients. The paper was excluded because the test object was the personalised advantage index (PAI), and not EMDR.
The EMDR Publications Database is a dynamic project and has been developed to serve EMDR UK members. If you find that this is not the case, perhaps because you feel the inclusion and exclusion criteria are too restrictive, or you find a paper that has not been included and you think ought to have been, please do get in touch by emailing researchofficer@emdrassociation.org.uk. Your comments will be put to the SRC for review.
The new publications can be easily viewed by clicking on the ‘NEW’ tag in the EMDR database. Within the ‘NEW’ tag, you can then select further tags of interest to see what has recently been added for specific topics and research types.
| Research/publication type tag | Number of new publications added |
| Dissertations and theses | 11 |
| Systematic reviews | 9 |
| Trials | 8 |
| Observational studies | 6 |
| Case reports | 5 |
| Qualitative research | 3 |
| Meta-analysis and network meta-analysis | 3 |
| Guidelines | 3 |
| Non-English language | 2 (Dutch) |
| Study protocols | 1 |
| Pre-clinical (animal) studies | 1 |
Seven new RCTs have been added this month in the topics of:
Some of these are part of the Frontiers Research Topic: EMDR and the AIP Model: Healing the Scars of Trauma. This issue contains 16 articles and is a valuable and current resource.
The database contains 151 qualitative studies about EMDR. One that appeared in the latest update offers rich data from participants who have received EMDR for psychosis (Rainey, 2024). Susannah Colbert, a new member of the SRC is also an author on this paper. It delves deeper into the association between life adversity and experiences such as hearing voices and holding beliefs that others may find unusual and situates the work within the Power Threat Meaning Framework.
| Topic tag | Number of new publications added |
| PTSD | 25 |
| Disorders associated with stress | 18 |
| Children and adolescents | 9 |
Other topics are included in the EMDR Publications Database. If you are interested in a topic that does not have a tag, you can enter it into the search box to retrieve references. Please see our videos for more information.
Every-Palmer, S., Flewett, T., Dean, S., Hansby, O., Freeland, A., Weatherall, M., & Bell, E. (2024). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy compared to usual treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder in adults with psychosis in forensic settings: Randomized controlled trial. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy, 15(1), 15.
Kim, K., Hwang, H., Bae, S., Kim, S. M., & Han, D. H. (2024). The effectiveness of a digital app for reduction of clinical symptoms in individuals with panic disorder: Randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26(1), e51428.
Magne, H. (2024). Is there a place for EMDR in neurology? Revue Neurologique, 180(3), 240–242.
Matthijssen, S. J. M. A., Brouwers, T. C., & de Jongh, A. (2024). Visual schema displacement therapy versus eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy versus waitlist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: Results of a randomized clinical trial. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1377108.
Molero-Zafra, M., Fernandez-Garcia, O., Mitjans-Lafont, M. T., Perez-Marin, M., & Hernandez-Jimenez, M. J. (2024). Psychological intervention in women victims of childhood sexual abuse: A randomized controlled clinical trial comparing EMDR psychotherapy and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1360388. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1360388
Rojnic Kuzman, M., Padberg, F., Amann, B. L., Schouler-Ocak, M., Bajic, Z., Melartin, T., …Gorwood, P. (2024). Clinician treatment choices for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Ambassadors survey of psychiatrists in 39 European countries. European Psychiatry, 67(1), e24
Sgualdini, E., Favaro, N., Dal Lago, D., Cibin, M., & Chiamulera, C. (2023). A randomized study to compare the effects of EMDR added to TAU on substance memory in a residential addiction setting. Journal of Substance Use, 29(3), 361–368.
Tait, J., Kellett, S., Saxon, D., Deisenhofer, A. K., Lutz, W., Barkham, M., & Delgadillo, J. (2024). Individual treatment selection for patients with post-traumatic stress disorder: External validation of a personalised advantage index. Psychotherapy Research, 1–14.
Wigard, I., Meyerbroker, K., Ehring, T., Topper, M., Arntz, A., & Emmelkamp, P. (2024). Skills training followed by either EMDR or narrative therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in adult survivors of childhood abuse: A randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 15(1).
Zat Ciftci, Z., Delibas, D. H., Kaya, T., Kulcu, D. G., Sari, A., Nazlikul, H., Coskun Topsakal, I., Aydin, Y. E., Kavakci, O., Savran, C., & Konuk, E. (2024). A randomized controlled trial of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1286118.
Publications database
In previous issues of ETQ we have piggy-backed on to Andrew Leeds research blog. It has always proved to be a valuable resource for us in the UK. From November 2022, we acquired the ability to generate our own equivalent using the EMDR Publications Database. This has been developed collaboratively using the expertise of the […]
