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Volume 3 Psychology 2019
July 31-August 01, 2019
Journal of Clinical Psychology and Cognitive Science
July 31-August 01, 2019 | Amsterdam, Netherlands
PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
22nd World Congress on
Virtual reality utilization for optimizing working memory stimulation during EMDR
therapy and PTSD treatment
Tjeu Theunissen
Maastricht University, Netherlands
Statement of the Problem : By overloading the working memory
during EMDR(Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
therapy with dual attentional tasking, the quality of the traumatic
memory is altered and its intensity weakened, leading to less
symptoms of PTSD(Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Crucial to
EMDR therapy is the adequate dosage of the secondary task (WM
taxation) during recall of traumatic memories. In clinical EMDR,
the secondary task consists of bilateral eye movements. However,
the speed and width of EM's is not recorded, while they may
have large effects on WM taxation and thus treatment outcome. It
appears, then, that it would be helpful to have a secondary task of
which the degree of WM taxation can be manipulated and adjusted
to individual patients.
Method: A pilot feasibility study investigated whether a Virtual
Reality EMDR intervention that titratesWM load per individual
leads to more reduction of subjective distress towards trauma
compared to other traditional (non-VR) interventions. PTSD
patients were offered three conditions of EMDR administering
as a choice.
Findings : The EMDR VR administering had positive effect on decreasing subjective distress within a single EMDR session, and
more positive effect compared to traditional methods. In addition, a large proportion of patients preferred the VR as treatment method
of choice. Overall, patients reported the VR to have better therapy outcome and subjective distress reduction, a more immersive
experience, and less distraction by the therapist’s presence.
Conclusion & Significance : Titrating WM load per individual could improve EMDR therapy effectivity. Moreover, VR
would be a promising research environment to study EMDR and PTSD treatment because it allows for precise controlling
and manipulating therapy variables to alter WM load. More data is needed to explore the effects of titrating WM load and VR
administering on PTSD treatment. Future VR utilization in PTSD treatment is suggested.
Biography
Tjeu Theunissen is a PhD-candidate at Maastricht University (NL) and has completed several clinical trainings. He is working (part-
time) as a therapist in the specialized health care at mental health clinic U-Center (NL), performing EMDR on international patients
with PTSD (mostly NATO soldiers). He has experience as a therapist, researcher, and teacher in clinical psychology, in which a
specialization in psycho-trauma is apparent. Highlights in his achievements are winning the FPN education prize for best teacher during
his first year of teaching at Maastricht University, and being accepted in world’s most top- rated incubator program ‘Y-Combinator’ with
the presented EMDR-VR business concept. He has founded the company SilVRmind with the specific aim to improve trauma therapy
via Innovation technology, with a strong focus on scientific research and clinical practice.
Clin Psychol Cog Sci, Volume 3
Fig. 1. Mean Subjective Unit of Distress (SUD) values for the traditional
Finger condition, the EMDR Lightbar condition, and Virtual Reality
(VR) condition across 165 EMDR sessions