EMDR Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in Adult Inpatient Mental Health Settings

Most research evaluating eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has taken place in community settings, leaving the impact for service users within inpatient environments less clear. This systematic review sought to identify, summarize, critically evaluate studies that investigated of EMDR on symptoms posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) adult mental health settings. Seven databases were systematically searched identify published unpublished articles eligible inclusion. Eleven studies, between 1995 2020, included this review. All showed improved PTSD symptoms, across a variety study populations. However, these findings are limited by (a) preponderance case designs (preventing causal attribution); (b) provision synchronous treatments; (c) poor methodological quality; (d) high heterogeneity studies. Prior shown EMDR’s effectiveness safety vulnerable While evidence is beginning support its use with those experiencing it premature strongly recommend as routine intervention. Future area recommended.