A form of therapy called EMDR could change the lives of our PTSD-afflicted vets — yet the Veterans Administration is not helping veterans access what the agency lists as an A-level therapy in its own clinical practice guidelines.

EMDR (eye movement and desensitization processing) is a form of trauma psychotherapy that multiple independent studies have verified as helpful. It’s an eight-phase treatment plan that addresses the experiences that have overwhelmed the brain’s natural resilience or coping capacity. Many vets who have used it (by turning to private therapy options and paying out of their own pockets) have found it effective. Yet the VA is turning a blind eye of sorts — ironically — to a therapy that involves eye movement in healing.

Close

“EMDR is an extremely valuable tool for therapists,” said Rich Domenico, a Boston psychotherapist who is certified in the therapy. “EMDR sort of replicates REM sleep, and at that level we can desensitize, reprocess and integrate traumatic or ‘stuck’ material. It is effective for many people. Therapy is very individual — what might work for one doesn’t work for another.”

[lz_ndn video =30372892]

EMDR can be tailored to individuals. There is no “homework” involved, as in other therapies. Patients also don’t have to relive their trauma continuously.

“Traumatic material gets stuck in the brain in a way that normal events don’t,” said Domenico. “EMDR is very effective at addressing that difference.”

Given all of this, why wouldn’t the VA actively recommend this therapy for struggling veterans?

“The VA operates like little fiefdoms,” Mark Doherty, executive director of EMDRIA, the EMDR International Association, told LifeZette. “It’s their internal culture. If a VA director of one of these little fiefdoms doesn’t want something to happen — it’s not going to happen.”

“If a VA director of one of these little fiefdoms doesn’t want something to happen, it’s not going to happen,” said one person in the know.

LifeZette reached out to the Veterans Administration press office twice for comment, but did not hear back.

Doherty said he has interacted with many VA regional offices that have been working hard at offering an array of therapies to veterans and routinely include EMDR as an option​. “But we’ve heard from therapists who have (also) been told by VA headquarters, ‘Practice EMDR, and we’ll fire you.’”

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

On the VA’s website page entitled “Understanding PTSD Treatment,” a section called “Treatment Basics” lists only two therapies: cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure therapy.

“The VA has a hubris about these two therapies they push; they feel that they themselves are academics, so they latch onto these more academic therapies,” said psychologist Joe Graca, who is certified in EMDR therapy and has also in the past worked with the VA in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

[lz_related_box id=”89309″]

“These traditional therapies fit more comfortably into their mold of what they think veterans should be doing to get well. Meanwhile, while the Veterans Administration insulates itself, vets are struggling and dying.”

“The VA says that they offer EMDR, but then they damn it with faint praise,” added Graca. “It’s all about protecting their turf. You can’t underestimate the threat to the VA when it comes to EMDR. Their therapies aren’t working, and the dropout rates are high in the two more accepted therapies.”

Doherty agreed with that. “We say to the VA, ‘At least do more research and clinical trials. Put some real funds into this and match-up EMDR with these other therapies. Let’s find out definitively. Isn’t it about helping veterans?'”

Author Charles Hoge, who along with a co-author Rachel Yehuda published an editorial in JAMA Psychology entitled “The Meaning of Evidence-Based Treatments for Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” added some context to the lack of research from the VA on EMDR.

“There definitely needs to be more research done by the VA. But the way the process works, they need to receive more good-quality grant applications,” Hoge told LifeZette. “The VA and DOD (Department of Defense) put announcements out and qualified groups — in this case, EMDR researchers — need to put applications forward, and work with those who know how to conduct clinical trials. If there aren’t investigations by qualified researchers, the research will languish.”

[lz_related_box id=”22464″]

Doherty said, “I’ve been told on several occasions by VA clinicians who have submitted research proposals on EMDR that the answer was ‘No, period.’ It didn’t matter how good the proposal was. There are impediments to getting EMDR researched on the same level of funding as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), prolonged exposure therapy (PE) or drugs.”

“The DOD and VA practice guidelines clearly rate EMDR as A-level therapies, along with CBT and PE therapy,” said Hoge. “The problem is, the other two are prioritized; the VA ensures that all vets will have access to the first two.”

Hoge also said there have been huge research investments in the U.S. for the more standard prolonged exposure therapy and cognitive processing therapy, but not so for EMDR.

“In Europe EMDR is a first-line treatment for trauma,” said Hoge. “Here, people don’t understand it.”

The VA hosted a Veterans Suicide Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. It included veterans service groups, health providers and DOD personnel. Also in attendance were veterans who have attempted suicide, as well as parents of service members who have died.

“This is really one of our top priority issues for VA,” Dr. David Shulkin, VA Under Secretary for Health, said at the summit, according to The Military Times. “Seeing the number of suicides that occur every day is simply not acceptable.”

[lz_related_box id=”94354″]

To those who know firsthand the benefits of EMDR, all of this is frustrating.

“EMDR quite simply saved my life,” said one Virginia woman who currently participates in EMDR treatment. “I had been in traditional therapy for years and was desperate about ever finding relief. In six EMDR sessions, I was 90 percent better. Shouldn’t we offer this to those who served, whether it’s ‘accepted therapy’ or not? I was so desperate that if I heard that doing cartwheels in the street would help, I’d do it. EMDR is a real therapy and veterans should have access to it.”

The Military Times reported that the Veterans Crisis Line, the VA suicide hotline, has received more than 2 million callers since it was established in 2007 — with 490,000 coming in last year alone.

However, a suicide hotline operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs allowed crisis calls to go into voicemail, the Associated Press reported. Callers did not always receive immediate assistance, according to a report by the VA’s internal watchdog.

With the EMDR treatment as an option for veterans suffering from PTSD, why is the VA looking away?

It is funding a massive research study at 30 facilities across its system to determine whether the drug lithium can prevent suicide, according to the Associated Press.

“The VA needs to stop its entrenched mentality on treatments and help veterans with all means possible,” said Doherty. “If they can’t, what are they good for?”