Short-term eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to treat children with posttraumatic stress symptoms after single trauma: A case series

Abstract

Background: Traumatic experiences can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For young children, even minor, inconspicuous looking events can lead to posttraumatic stress symptoms. Trauma-focused treatment with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) offers children an age-adapted intervention to help them successfully process traumatic experiences. So far, there has been a lack of well evaluated trauma-focused treatments for young children. Methods: These case series examine the effectiveness of a short-term treatment with EMDR therapy for children showing PTSD symptoms after experiencing a single incident induced trauma. Five children between 5 and 10 years of age who d..