Online EMDR and trauma-focused CBT were equally effective in one study

Interested to learn more about EMDR? Here's some recent research about it.

A 2021 paper in Brain Sciences compared EMDR and trauma-focused CBT, both done online: COVID-19, Isolation, Quarantine: On the Efficacy of Internet-Based Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Ongoing Trauma.

Treatment started at the earliest stage of distress, for health professionals and others dealing with quarantine or illness from COVID-19. Thirty-eight people who met the criteria for acute stress disorder were randomly assigned to EMDR or CBT. Both groups had seven sessions. They were tested before, after, and one month later for trauma symptoms, depression, and anxiety.

Both treatments reduced anxiety by 30%, and trauma and depression symptoms by 55%. The one-month check suggested the effects held.

My take: the paper doesn't pick a winner. Online EMDR and trauma-focused CBT were equally effective, and the authors say both might be considered first-line therapies for trauma that's still going on.