Effectiviteit van EMDR bij veteranen met (complexe) PTSS

Abstract

EMDR is one of the most suitable psychological interventions for relatively simple forms of PTSD. Literature shows mixed results on the effectiveness of EMDR in veterans, diagnosed with PTSD. A possible explanation is that veterans are more often confronted with a more complex form of PTSD, causing borderline personality disorder or moral injury and affecting the trauma therapy. Previous research shows that the client will experience a decline of vividness and emotionality of a traumatic memory due to EMDR, but that this decrease does not reoccur on questionnaires for PTSD complaints. The current study investigates whether borderline personality disorder and moral injury (partly) explain that this decrease in vividness and emotionality during the EMDR-sessions is not reflected in the questionnaires for PTSD complaints. The results show that roughly 40% of the veterans substantially benefited from EMDR-treatment. No moderating effect was found for borderline personality problems and moral injury. This may also be due to methodological limitations, inherent to clinical practice research. The influence of borderline personality disorder and moral injury on trauma treatment, and specifically EMDR, needs more attention in future studies in order to improve veteran care.