EMDR Therapy Quarterly

Anthea Sutton (Academic and Research Liaison) & Jonathan Hutchins (Chair of the Scientific and Research Committee)

Annual Conference 2026

Members of the SRC will be at the EMDR UK annual conference, taking place in Bristol on the 20^th-21^st March.  Please visit the research posters, we have a great range of topics being presented, including complex mental health conditions such as bipolar disorder and psychosis, children and adolescents, group EMDR interventions, and research in various settings including probation services and NHS hospitals.  Poster authors will be standing by their posters during both lunch breaks, please take the opportunity to meet them and ask them about their research.  Full details can be found on the conference timetable.

*New for 2026* Poster authors will be giving 60-second “lightning talks” during the research symposium on Day 2 (10.45am Saturday 21^st March). This promises to be a lively and interesting session, so please join us.

We are delighted to welcome Professor Filippo Varese and colleagues from the University of Manchester who will be presenting our research keynote on: New frontiers in the treatment and prevention of psychosis using EMDR.

During the research symposium, we will also be giving an update of the activities of the SRC and asking you to feedback on proposed research priorities which will inform our research strategy over the next few years.

EMDR UK Funded Research featured on EMDR: The Science Behind the Therapy Podcast

The systematic review and meta-analysis funded by EMDR UK and conducted by The University of Sheffield on Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Children and Adolescents recently featured on Dr Andrew Leeds’s podcast “EMDR: The Science Behind the Therapy”.  Available from your preferred podcast platform now.

The systematic review sought to analyse randomised controlled trials published since the NICE PTSD Guideline in 2018.  As part of the current research strategy (2023-2026), the SRC aims to evaluate evidence relevant to the NICE guidance on PTSD prevention and treatment.  Engaging with NICE is a key activity, through stakeholder consultation on guidelines in development.  If you are interested in news relating to NICE and EMDR, and opportunities to apply to join relevant NICE committees, please join our new forum via your membership login on the EMDR UK website.

New Research

Along with colleagues Bobby Cramp and Emma Hartley, SRC member Susannah Colbert has recently published an article in the European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation entitled “A grounded theory of attachment processes in EMDR for psychosis”.  You can read the article here, and there will be an accompanying poster at the EMDR UK annual conference in Bristol if you’d like to find out more about the research.

Evidence Briefings

In addition to the EMDR Publications Database, we plan to produce a series of briefings outlining the evidence base and research gaps in key areas of EMDR. We have collated the current evidence base on EMDR with veterans and military personnel, you can read it in this issue of ETQ here, and don’t forget that all EMDR research publications are added to our database which you can access with your EMDR UK membership, see the “Member Resources” section when you login to the members area of the EMDR UK website.  If you have any queries about accessing or finding your way around the database, please email: emdrdatabase@sheffield.ac.uk

Veterans Research Network

The SRC continue to explore avenues to strengthen the evidence base for EMDR with veterans.  Some members have been involved in proposing a feasibility study with academic colleagues for external research funding.  The SRC welcome these collaborations, and this is the foundation of our newly established veterans research network.  If you are a team leader working with veterans, or are in contact with a head of service who does, please email us at: researchofficer@emdrassociation.org.uk as we are keen to expand the network.  Current priorities for the group include exploring potential analyses or routine outcome data.