EMDR in Psychiatric Inpatients With Severe Mental Disorder

EMDR is an 8-phase psychological treatment composed of protocols and standardized procedures applicable to both adults and children. The eight phases (patient history, patient preparation, evaluation of the main aspects of the memory, desensitization of the traumatic memory, installation of the positive cognition, body scan, close and re-evaluation) and the protocol of the time line of past-present-future, allow a holistic evaluation of the image of the traumatic memory, and allow for the patient to be well-prepared before processing past events which underlie current pathology, current situations which cause perturbation, and challenges and possible future stimuli which might lead to the appearance of symptoms. (Shapiro, 2014)