Rapid Research Presentation | Chris Mackey
| Friday, July 26, 2024 |
| 12:20 PM - 1:00 PM |
Presenter
Mr Chris Mackey
Chris Mackey And Associates
Outcome Evaluation of EMDR for Trauma Clients Seen in Private Practice
Abstract
Aim
EMDR is an empirically validated form of psychotherapy recommended by the World Health Organization to treat trauma. This presentation is an outcome evaluation study that aims to document the effectiveness of therapy including EMDR for clients suffering from trauma reactions seen in a private practice setting. Given that the findings are based on a large number of clients offered therapy in an everyday clinical setting they may be more generalizable to therapy offered in other such settings than much other previous research.
Treatment outcome data were collected by the presenter over the past 30 years (following principles outlined by Lyons et al., 1997) for 101 clients offered individual therapy for trauma reactions, including EMDR, in his clinical psychology private practice.
Client groups predominantly included victims of crime including physical and sexual assault, those who had suffered from motor vehicle or industrial accidents, those who witnessed death or serious injury and those who had experienced traumatic loss. Evaluation measures included the Impact of Event Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Treatment interventions offered within a cognitive-behavioural framework included psychoeducation, relaxation techniques, and EMDR or exposure. Exploratory statistical analyses were used to investigate factors affecting treatment outcome.
Clients showed both statistically and clinically significant reductions in post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Clients typically experienced no more than mild symptomatic distress following psychological treatment. Several factors were identified which affected treatment outcome. For example, a number of simple measures obtained during the EMDR sessions were identified that helped predict outcome at the end of therapy. Evidence will also be provided showing that client improvement particularly occurred across the EMDR phase of therapy.
These results might also offer comparative data for other private practitioners who wish to gauge the severity of their clients’ trauma reactions and degree of symptomatic improvement using objective measures. They also provide objective data that helps guide the more informed use of EMDR in anticipating likely therapy response. This paper may also demonstrate that such analyses are accessible and useful to clinicians in private practice.
EMDR is an empirically validated form of psychotherapy recommended by the World Health Organization to treat trauma. This presentation is an outcome evaluation study that aims to document the effectiveness of therapy including EMDR for clients suffering from trauma reactions seen in a private practice setting. Given that the findings are based on a large number of clients offered therapy in an everyday clinical setting they may be more generalizable to therapy offered in other such settings than much other previous research.
Treatment outcome data were collected by the presenter over the past 30 years (following principles outlined by Lyons et al., 1997) for 101 clients offered individual therapy for trauma reactions, including EMDR, in his clinical psychology private practice.
Client groups predominantly included victims of crime including physical and sexual assault, those who had suffered from motor vehicle or industrial accidents, those who witnessed death or serious injury and those who had experienced traumatic loss. Evaluation measures included the Impact of Event Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Treatment interventions offered within a cognitive-behavioural framework included psychoeducation, relaxation techniques, and EMDR or exposure. Exploratory statistical analyses were used to investigate factors affecting treatment outcome.
Clients showed both statistically and clinically significant reductions in post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Clients typically experienced no more than mild symptomatic distress following psychological treatment. Several factors were identified which affected treatment outcome. For example, a number of simple measures obtained during the EMDR sessions were identified that helped predict outcome at the end of therapy. Evidence will also be provided showing that client improvement particularly occurred across the EMDR phase of therapy.
These results might also offer comparative data for other private practitioners who wish to gauge the severity of their clients’ trauma reactions and degree of symptomatic improvement using objective measures. They also provide objective data that helps guide the more informed use of EMDR in anticipating likely therapy response. This paper may also demonstrate that such analyses are accessible and useful to clinicians in private practice.
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Chris Mackey is a clinical and counselling psychologist and Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society with over 40 years’ psychotherapy experience. He is the principal psychologist at Chris Mackey and Associates in Geelong. He was previously the Senior Clinical Psychologist at The Geelong Hospital and Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital where he helped establish a group PTSD program for Vietnam War veterans.
Chris has presented at numerous national and international scientific conferences over the past 25 years on such topics as psychological therapy for anxiety, depression, and trauma reactions and drawing on synchronicity in psychotherapy. He was on the local scientific committee for the 2016 World Congress of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies.
Chris is author of The Positive Psychology of Synchronicity: Enhance Your Mental Health with the Power of coincidence, released internationally in 2019.
Chris received the Impact Achievement Award at the 2019 Australian Allied Health Awards.
