Abstract

This study aimed to explore clients‟ experiences of receiving eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) as an intervention for trauma-related symptomatology, consistent with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Seven outpatients who had experienced EMDR as an intervention for trauma-related symptomatology were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule, from which the verbatim transcripts provided the raw data for an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The themes that were extracted from the data were considered under five superordinate headings which were: „living with trauma‟, „doubt and apprehension; „making safe and making sense‟, „the process of „processing‟ and „change‟. Both active and passive processes were identified within participants‟ descriptions of the process of EMDR and change. Discussion focuses on the themes in relation to previous literature and further, in respect of the unique understanding of EMDR that a qualitative phenomenological study provides. Implications for future clinical and theoretical research are suggested and the limitations and theoretical underpinnings of the study are made explicit. The conclusions drawn from the study suggest that EMDR should be viewed as a holistic approach with elements such as the development of the therapeutic alliance given equal investment to the search for the active mechanism of the bi-lateral component. Additionally, it is argued that the bi-lateral element potentially involves more than a single mechanism, particularly in relation to the enhancement of positive affect and that this would benefit from further exploration.