Three- and 6-Month Follow-Up of EMDR Treatment of PTSD in an HMO Setting

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment was found to maintain superiority to newly initiated standard Kaiser Care, which consisted of individual therapy plus variations of medication and group therapy. A 3- and 6-month follow-up of individuals randomly assigned to either EMDR treatment or standard care (SC) treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicates that significantly greater improvements found with EMDR at posttreatment in an earlier article ( S. Marcus, P. Marquis, & C. Sakai, 1997 ) were maintained on measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and general symptoms. Of the original 67 participants in this large HMO study, 44 were assessed at 3-month follow-up and 36 were assessed at 6-month follow-up by an independent assessor. The study indicates that a relatively small number of EMDR treatment sessions result in substantial benefits that are maintained over time.