The EMDR and Behavior Therapy Controversy

EMDR vs Behavior Therapy Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR, is a popular PTSD treatment for patients and clinicians alike. While it has gained in popularity over the years, it has also been mired in controversy. Proponents of EMDR maintain that the treatment more effectively reprocesses trauma than exposure therapy, and does so at a faster rate. CBT and behavioral practitioners have questioned whether the mechanisms of action underlying EMDR are simply exposure-based and if bilateral stimulation (i.e. eye movements) is a superfluous addition. State of the Evidence Previous meta-analyses and dismantling studies appear to support this analysis, indicating that eye movements and other bilateral stimulation do not add… Read More

Prolonged Exposure Therapy One of the most well established and highly effective treatments for PTSD is prolonged exposure therapy. However, while this treatment has demonstrated much success over the years, focusing on habituation as the primary mechanisms of change has been called into question. The inhibitory learning model challenges outdated approaches and aligns with advances in neuroscience. Inhibitory Learning Model: Advances in CBT According to the inhibitory learning model, when exposure therapy results in extinction, information in the brain is not rewritten. Instead, new learning simply inhibits older excititory learning. The important take-home is that information is never unlearned. It just becomes inhibited. This means that depending on context and… Read More

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The EMDR and Behavior Therapy Controversy

Behavioral Innovations in PTSD and Trauma Therapy