By Deborah R. Huso
EMDR has been successful in treating trauma from childhood abuse in victims and survivors young and old.
With more than 3 million instances of child abuse reported annually in the United States and probably many more cases going unreported, social workers face an often daunting client list of children and adults who are or have been victims of abuse and neglect. Left untreated, these individuals’ chances of leading lives fraught with substance abuse, incarceration, unwanted pregnancies, and future psychological conditions are multiplied by many degrees.
In the last two decades, however, researchers have made major strides in developing methods for treating victims and survivors of child abuse, including therapies that work as well (and in some cases better) with children as with adults. Among the most successful of these treatments is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a therapeutic process that uses eye movements, sounds, and repetitive motions to help clients process and come to terms with traumatic memories more quickly than talk therapy alone. And since many children and some adults are unable to verbalize traumatic experiences, EMDR can often provide the breakthrough that more traditional therapies can’t.
Share This Post!
Emotional and Psychological Trauma: Healing from Trauma and Moving On
By Lawrence Robinson, Melinda Smith, M.A., and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. If you’ve experienced an extremely stressful or disturbing event that’s left you feeling helpless and emotionally out of control, you may have [...]
How childhood trauma affects the brain
By Maria Cohut It is not news that people abused as children are more exposed to clinical depression, anxiety, and a higher risk of death from suicide. But now, researchers have begun to [...]
Should Childhood Trauma Be Treated As A Public Health Crisis?
By Erin Blakemore, NPR When public health officials get wind of an outbreak of Hepatitis A or influenza, they spring into action with public awareness campaigns, monitoring and outreach. But should they [...]
The Healing Power of Dance Movement Therapy
By Helaina Hovitz As I worked more furiously towards the deadline of finishing the edits on my memoir about growing up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder while verbally telling my story over [...]
How to Rewire Your Traumatized Brain
By the Concepción de León I hear some people have trouble with therapy, that it can take years for them to open up to their doctors, let alone cry or break down. Not [...]
Developmental Trauma Disorder: The Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect
By Maureen V. Kilrain, MS, PA-C Child neglect and abuse are perhaps the most significant community health challenge in the United States. Mental health experts in trauma continue to investigate and apply a [...]