La dimension du thérapeute dans l’efficacité de la prise en charge EMDR du trauma : la dimension oubliée ? Présentation d’un protocole de recherche

Introduction

While studies of the effectiveness of EMDR psychotherapy have demonstrated a definite impact on post-traumatic symptoms, it is often evaluated through the strict application of the standard EMDR protocol. However, in everyday clinical practice, many therapists deviate from the protocol. The observation of this discrepancy between what is prescribed and what is actually done, that is widely documented by the activity clinic, led to the creation of an original research project, inspired by methodologies from the activity clinic. This article presents the research protocol.

Method

Considering the therapeutic setting as a professional situation, we will compare two conditions for implementing the standard EMDR protocol: one in which therapists will be asked to treat their patients strictly according to the standard protocol, and the other in which they will be asked to treat them “as they usually do”. The psychotherapy sessions will be filmed and analyzed using a methodology derived from the activity clinic: self-confrontation of data.

Issues

By using an original method, and cross referencing quantitative and qualitative evaluations, the issues are epistemological, methodological, and clinical. By having therapists talk about the practices they see themselves carrying out, we hope to grasp what is happening in the reality of psychotherapeutic work, and make explicit the principal role of the therapist, which plays a large part in the effectiveness of EMDR psychotherapy.