Question: For adults with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with comorbid psychosis who have experienced complex/multiple trauma, how effective is Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) compared to any other intervention for improving patient outcomes?

Answer:

No relevant high-quality evidence, such as systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials (RCT), are available to answer this question. Therefore, this is a clinically relevant topic which requires high-quality research to be conducted.

Some evidence is available from pilot studies which examine the efficacy of EMDR for treating comorbid PTSD and psychosis, although in these studies the PTSD was not specifically a result of multiple/complex trauma (de Bont, van Minnen, & de Jongh, 2013; van den Berg & van der Gaag, 2012). Since these are pilot studies and not RCTs, their findings have been excluded from this summary. A protocol is available for an RCT which compares the effects of prolonged exposure, EMDR, and waiting list, on patients with current psychosis and comorbid PTSD (de Bont et al., 2013).

To view the full summary, click the Download Document link to the right.