Abstract

Background: Little is known about the effects of targeting memories of adverse (childhood) events in people with a personality disorder (PD).

Objective: Determining the effectiveness of brief EMDR therapy in individuals with PD.

Method: In a randomized-controlled trial, 97 outpatients with a PD as main diagnosis were allocated to either five (90 minutes) sessions of EMDR therapy (n = 51) or a waiting list (WL) control condition (n = 46) followed by 3 months of treatment as usual for their PD. Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were excluded. Measurements were performed on psychological symptoms, psychological distress, and personality dysfunctioning. Outcomes were compared at baseline, post-treatment, and at 3-month follow up. Data were analysed as intent-to-treat with linear mixed models.

Results: EMDR therapy yielded significant improvements with medium to large effect sizes for the primary outcomes after treatment, i.e. psychological symptoms (EMDR: d =.42; control group: d =.07), psychological distress (EMDR: d =.69; control group: d =.29), and personality functioning (EMDR: d =.41; control group: d = −.10) within groups. At 3-month follow-up, after 3 months of TAU, improvements were maintained. Significant differences were found between both groups regarding all outcome measures in favour of the EMDR group at post-treatment (ds between −.62 and −.65), and at follow-up, after 3 months of TAU (ds between −.45 and −.53).

Conclusions: The results suggest that EMDR therapy can be beneficial in the treatment of patients with PDs. More rigorous outcome research examining long-term effects and using a longer treatment track is warranted.

Details

Title
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in patients with a personality disorder
Author
Hafkemeijer, Laurian 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; de Jongh, Ad 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Job van der Palen 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Starrenburg, Annemieke 1 

1  Department of Adult Psychiatry, GGZ Delfland, Delft, The Netherlands 
2  Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Research Department, PSYTREC, Bilthoven, The Netherlands; School of Health Sciences, Salford University, Manchester, UK; Institute of Health and Society, University of Worcester, Worcester, UK; School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland 
3  Department of Research Methodology, Measurement and Data Analysis, University of Twente, Enschede & Department of Epidemiology, Medisch Spectrum Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands 
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Dec 2020
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
e-ISSN
20008066
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2020.1838777
ProQuest document ID
2492475212
Copyright
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons  Attribution – Non-Commercial License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.