Online EMDR Therapy in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond

Abstract

EMDR Therapy is a trans-diagnostic, comprehensive, integrative, and flexible psychotherapy approach which is guided by the AIP Model. While being an evidence-based psychotherapy for PTSD (World Health Organization, 2013), it also has scientific support as a treatment for affective disorders, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, addictions, and Schizophrenia (Valiente-Gómez et al., 2017). Recently EMDR Therapy has been found to be the most cost-effective treatment for PTSD in adults (Mavranezouli et al., 2020).The EMDR Europe Association's guidelines recommended the use of online EMDR therapy following the standard EMDR therapy protocol with all clients (children, adults, ongoing clients, or new clients) who are appropriately assessed.The guidelines made a clear recommendation not to alter the standard EMDR Therapy protocol when practicing in an online setting. It also concluded that there is no higher risk present in online EMDR Therapy in comparison to its use face-to-faceBoth current research and clinical experience suggest that online EMDR Therapy is as effective as in-person EMDR Therapy. While most clients seem to feel comfortable receiving EMDR therapy online and report being able to develop a positive therapeutic alliance, some therapists report concerns relating to therapy delivery in the online setting.