Responding to an identified need : a joint Department of Defense/Department of Veterans Affairs training program in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for clinicians providing trauma services / Mark C. Russell, Steven M. Silver, Susan Rogers, Jolee N. Darnell

An earlier study of federal Department of Defense mental health professionals found relatively few trained in the psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder previously identified as effective by both this department and the federal Department of Veterans Affairs. In response to that need, a training program for one of the psychotherapies, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), was implemented utilizing personnel from these federal departments with assistance from a nonprofit agency. This article presents an evaluation of that program with rating data gathered from participants as well as treatment outcome data from the application of the training to patients. The program was highly rated by the participants and the impact of EMDR treatment was significant. Suggestions for similar programs and for further research are offered.

Psychology.