There was evidence individual TFCBT, EMDR, stress management and group TFCBT are effective in the treatment of PTSD. Other non-trauma focused psychological treatments did not reduce PTSD symptoms as significantly. There was some evidence that individual TFCBT and EMDR are superior to stress management in the treatment of PTSD at between 2 and 5 months following treatment, and also that TFCBT, EMDR and stress management were more effective than other therapies. There was insufficient evidence to determine whether psychological treatment is harmful. There was some evidence of greater drop-out in active treatment groups. The considerable unexplained heterogeneity observed in these comparisons, and the potential impact of publication bias on these data, suggest the need for caution in interpreting the results of this review.
A controlled study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disordered sexual assault victims.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a new method developed to treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study evaluated the efficacy of EMDR compared to a no-treatment wait-list control in the treatment of PTSD in adult female sexual assault victims. Twenty-one subjects were entered, and 18 completed. Treatment was delivered in four weekly individual sessions. Assessments were conducted pre- and posttreatment and 3 months following treatment termination by an independent assessor kept blind to treatment condition. Measures included standard clinician- and self-administered PTSD and related psychopathology scales. Results indicated that subjects treated with EMDR improved significantly more on PTSD and depression from pre- to posttreatment than control subjects, leading to the conclusion that EMDR was effective in alleviating PTSD in this study.