Are eye movements considered essential to EMDR?
Although eye movements are often considered its most distinctive element, EMDR is not a simple procedure dominated by the use of eye movements. It is a complex psychotherapy, containing numerous components that are considered to contribute to treatment effects. Eye movements are used to engage the clients attention to an external stimulus, while the client is simultaneously focusing on internal distressing material. Shapiro describes eye movements as dual attention stimuli, to identify the process in which the client attends to both external and internal stimuli. Therapist directed eye movements are the most commonly used dual attention stimulus but a variety of other stimuli including hand-tapping and auditory stimulation are often used. The use of such alternate stimuli has been an integral part of the EMDR protocol for more than 10 years (Shapiro 1991, 1993).Suggested research. All the outcome research in EMDR treatment has used eye movements as the dual attention stimulus. It is re
