EMDR and Schema Therapy have both gained increasing focus, and clinical application as transdiagnostic psychotherapies (Dominiguez, 2023), with evidence supporting their use with a wide variety of clinical populations (Mathiesen et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2017). Increasing attention and focus has discussed the integrative and complementary nature of these therapy approaches, with the combined theoretical models and practical applications of both EMDR and Schema proving to be a powerful approach for creating long lasting change. In this short presentation, Liam Spicer will provide an overview of the Schema Therapy Model (Young, 2003) and the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model (Shapiro, 1990) and how these theoretical frameworks can be utilised together to form a comprehensive understanding of the client’s presentation and challenges. EMDR and specific Schema Therapy change strategies such as Imagery Rescripting and Chairwork will be discussed, with reference to clinical choice points regarding what interventions may be best suited to specific clinical situations, and presentations. The recent research of both approaches will be discussed, with a focus on recent developments and advancements in the field. This will then be followed by an ask me anything session on the utilisation and integration of these approaches.

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 102 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.