Knowledge About Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy and Child Sexual Abuse: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) impacts victims in immediate and long-lasting ways, often resulting in traumatic symptomatology. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is an effective treatment to address trauma symptoms. Despite growing research on the efficacy of EMDR therapy, no review has been conducted on EMDR’s treatment of trauma related to CSA. This scoping review seeks to explore the literature on EMDR as a treatment for CSA, including outcomes measured related to efficacy and considerations and implications related to the use of EMDR with this population. Four databases and the Francine Shapiro Library were systematically searched and twenty-one articles meeting inclusion criteria (published after 2001, using EMDR with victims of CSA, published in English) were included in this review. A mixture of case studies and empirical research using EMDR with both child and adult survivors of CSA were identified. Outcomes measured were traumatic, psychological, behavioral, and other (e.g., quality of life and physiological) symptoms. Studies reporting on direct-client work identified that EMDR was effective at resolving negative symptoms related to CSA without any necessary protocol modifications. Nearly all studies utilized stabilization in the form of the “safe space” exercise for grounding. Included empirical studies were primarily white and female samples; further research with non-offending males and individuals of color is needed. More research is also needed to understand minimum session frequency and duration of EMDR sessions to achieve resolution of trauma. This review suggests promising evidence of the efficacy of EMDR therapy in the treatment of trauma related to CSA.