Het werkzame mechanisme van Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): is dit het van een afstand bekijken of het herbeleven van een traumatische gebeurtenis?

This research is a replication of the study of Lee, Taylor and Drummond (2006) which describes the working mechanisms during an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment. This study tested whether there is a relation between improvement in symptoms and the way the client sees the traumatic event; is this from a detached point of view (distancing) or when the trauma is re-experienced (reliving). The responses of 30 clients during an EMDR session, are classified into four categories according to the classification of Lee et al. (2006) (distancing, reliving, affect and associated). Added in this study is the category undecided. The results show there is no difference in the responses given during an EMDR session and the reduction of PTSD-symptoms (measured with the Dutch version of the Impact of Event Scale) and of the distress (measured with the Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale). All the responses are related to an improvement, regardless of the category. These results are not in line with the findings of Lee et al. (2006) that show distancing-reactions are associated with a greater reduction in symptoms than reliving-reactions. In addition to Lee et al. (2006), the current study found that both the nature of the trauma (intentional or not intentional) as well as the negative cognition of a client (powerlessness or self-esteem) are not associated with an improvement in symptoms during EMDR treatment. Future research may contribute to knowledge about other factors that may be associated with the effectiveness of EMDR