EMDR to Treat Children and Adolescents: Clinicians’ Experiences Using the EMDR Journey Game

Abstract

Childhood trauma is a pervasive social issue with profound consequences. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is an effective treatment for children. Challenges can arise when using EMDR with children, such as difficulty engaging children and developmental fit of the protocol. Child experts have developed creative tools to address these challenges. The EMDR Journey Game is one such tool that integrates creative modalities with EMDR. This study explored the relationship between use of the game and clinician’s perceived client engagement and clinician confidence. This study employed an observational, cross-sectional design, surveying (online) 69 EMDR-trained clinicians, half of whom had used the game and half of whom had not. Results show clinicians were motivated to use the EMDR Journey Game to engage children in EMDR and to increase their confidence. Findings also suggest the game was perceived to enhance children’s engagement with EMDR; clinicians’ experience (years and frequency of use) with EMDR impacts their confidence using EMDR with adolescents and adults, but not with children. Results support the efforts of child experts to develop appropriate, creative tools to adapt EMDR for children. Further exploration of clinician confidence using EMDR with children is necessary.