In the past years, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has become increasingly popular as a treatment method for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The current article critically evaluates three recurring assumptions in EMDR literature: (a) the notion that traumatic memories are fixed and stable and that flashbacks are accurate reproductions of the traumatic incident; (b) th...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is effectively treated with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) with patients making eye movements during recall of traumatic memories. Many therapists have replaced eye movements with bilateral beeps, but there are no data on the effects of beeps. Experimental studies suggest that eye movements may be beneficial because they tax working mem...

Motor vehicle accident (MVA) victims may suffer both acute and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD). With PTSD affecting social, interpersonal and occupational functioning, clinicians as well as the National Institute of Health are very interested in identifying the most effective psychological treatment to reduce PTSD. From research findings, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EM...

Series of horizontal saccadic eye movements (EMs) are known to improve episodic memory retrieval in healthy adults and to facilitate the processing of traumatic memories in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Several authors have proposed that EMs achieve these effects by increasing the functional connectivity of the two brain hemispheres, but direct evidence for this ...

Background Compulsions and cravings for smoking have been the subject of behavioral treatment. EMDR [1] is an established, effective treatment of trauma-based disorders [2]. Its use in the treatment of addictions and compulsions is relatively new. Although there are ways of targeting irrational positive affect via EMDR [3]. Merging the Feeling-State Theory of Compulsions and EMDR, the Eye Movem...

s iii Publications vii Acknowledgements viii List of Tables xii List of Figures xv 1.0 Introduction to PTSD 1.1 A historical perspective 1 1.2 Prevalence 5 1.3 PTSD psychopathology: learning theory 6 1.4 PTSD psychopathology: information processing models 8 1.5 PTSD psychopathology: biological perspectives 13 1.6 Psychological treatments of PTSD: review of the evidence 21 1.6.1 Comparison of st...

Perceptual organization is one of the most hotly debated issues in visual perception. Human adults, normal conditions, process global features faster than local details, effect that called “Global Precedence”. Research has shown as stimulus eccentricity gets more distant from fovea, perceptual decisions details become delayed. This even happens when gaze fixated on center field view and locatio...

A disproportionate fear of vomiting, or emetophobia, is a chronic and disabling condition which is characterized by a tendency to avoid a wide array of situations or activities that might increase the risk of vomiting. Unlike many other subtypes of specific phobia, emetophobia is fairly difficult to treat. In fact, there are only a few published cases in the literature. This paper presents a ca...

Eye Closure, Eye Movements (ECEM) is a hypnotically-based approach to treatment that incorporates eye movements adapted from the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) protocol in conjunction with hypnosis for the treatment of depersonalization disorder. Depersonalization Disorder has been differentiated from post-traumatic stress disorders and has recently been conceptualized as ...