EMDR With Children and Adolescents After Single-Incident Trauma An Intervention Study

This study used a naturalistic design to investigate the effectiveness of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) with children and adolescents who were exposed to single-incident trauma. Participants were 36 children and adolescents ranging in age from 1 year 9 months to 18 years 1 month who were referred consecutively to the author’s private practice. Assessments were conducted at intake, post-waitlist/pretreatment, and at follow up. EMDR treatment resulted in significant improvement (Cohen’s d = 1.87). Follow-ups after 6 months revealed stable, further slight improvement. It was shown that children younger than 4 years of age can be treated using EMDR and that the group of preschool children had the same benefit from the treatment as the school-age children.