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!
5 Reasons Why We Blame Ourselves After Trauma
CSF written article Your Content Goes Here By Kaytee Gillis, LCSW-BACS As a therapist who works with survivors of childhood trauma, I find that self-blame is a common part [...]
Child-Parent Psychotherapy Resources
CSF written article Your Content Goes Here By University of California, San Francisco Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) is an intervention model for children aged 0-5 who have experienced at least [...]
Caring for Caregivers Experiencing Secondary Trauma
CSF written article Your Content Goes Here By Heather C. Forkey, MD, Elaine Schulte, MD, MPH, and Luanne Thorndyke, MD Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is the emotional duress caused [...]
How to Talk About Mental Health
CSF written article Your Content Goes Here By SAMHSA Mental health is essential to a person’s life in the same way as physical health. Hesitation to talk about mental [...]
Prioritizing Minority Mental Health
CSF written article Your Content Goes Here By CDC Office of Health Equity Mental health matters! Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, [...]
Exploratory Study Associates Childhood Trauma with Brain Features in Abusive Mothers
CSF written article Your Content Goes Here By University of Fukui As sad as it is, child maltreatment continues to be a prevalent global social issue. Recent studies have revealed [...]