Between Innovation and Tradition: the Paradoxical Relationship Between Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and Altered States of Consciousness
Restricted accessOtherFirst published online March, 2004
Between Innovation and Tradition: the Paradoxical Relationship Between Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and Altered States of Consciousness
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a relatively new form of psychotherapy to emerge in the West. Using both a case analysis and literature review we situate EMDR within the use of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) in psychological healing practices across times and cultures. We discuss EMDR’s unique predicament as a therapy that draws upon techniques common to most therapeutic ASCs, while at the same time distancing itself from this tradition through its pseudoscientific language and technologic aesthetic. Our conclusion attempts to shed light on this paradox and raise questions for further study.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Boddy, J. (1988). Spirits and selves in Northern Sudan: The cultural therapeutics of possession and trance . American Ethnologist, 15(1), 4–27 .
2.
Bourguignon, E. (1967). World distribution and patterns of possession states. In R. Prince (Ed.), Trance and possession states (pp. 3–34). Montreal: R. M. Bucke Society .
3.
Bourguignon, E., & Evascu, T. (1977). Altered states of consciousness within a general evolutionary perspective: A holocultural analysis . Behaviour Science Research, 12, 199–216 .
4.
Buckley, P., & Galanter, M. (1979). Altered states of consciousness during psychotherapy: A historical and cultural perspective . International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 25(2), 118–124 .
5.
Cahill, S., Carrigan, M., & Frueh, C. (1999). Does EMDR work? And if so, why? A critical review of controlled outcome and dismantling research . Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13(1–2), 5–33 .
6.
Chlyeh, A. (1998). Les Gnaoua du Maroc: Itenéraires initiatiques transe et possession. Casablanca: La Pensee Sauvage .
7.
Cohen, S. (2000). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): The making of a psychotherapy. Master’s thesis, Departments of Anthropology and Social Studies of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal.
8.
Corin, E. (1998). Refiguring the person: The dynamics of affects and symbols in an African spirit possession cult. In M. Lambek & A. Strathern (Eds.), Bodies and persons: Comparative perspectives from Africa and Melanesia (pp. 80–102). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
9.
Crabtree, A. (1993). From Mesmer to Freud: Magnetic sleep and the roots of psychological healing. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .
10.
Cusack, K., & Spates, R. (1999). The cognitive dismantling of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13(1–2), 87–99 .
11.
Davidson, P., & Parker, K. (2001). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): A meta-analysis . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69(2), 305–316 .
12.
Deikman, A. (1973). Deautomatization and the mystic experience. In R. Ornstein 27 (Ed.), The nature of human consciousness: A book of readings (pp. 216–233). San Francisco: W.H. Freeman .
13.
Devilly, G., & Spence, S. (1999). The relative efficacy and treatment distress of EMDR and a cognitive-behavior trauma treatment protocol in the amelioration of posttraumatic stress disorder . Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13(1–2), 131–156 .
14.
Goldstein, A., de Beurs, E., Chambless, D., & Wilson, K. (2000). EMDR for panic disorder with agoraphobia: Comparison with waiting list and credible attention-placebo control conditions . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(6), 947–956 .
15.
Greenwald, R. (1999). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in child and adolescent psychotherapy. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson .
16.
Hong, C., Gillin, C., Callaghan, G. A., & Potkin, S. (1992). Correlation of rapid eye movement density with dream report length and not with movements in the dream: Evidence against the scanning hypothesis . Annual Meeting Abstracts, Association of Professional Sleep Societies, poster # 12.
17.
Hurbon, L. (1995). Voodoo: Search for the spirit. New York: Harry Abrams .
18.
Jilek, W. (1989). Therapeutic use of altered states of consciousness in contemporary North American Indian dance ceremonials. In C. Ward (Ed.), Altered states of consciousness and mental health: A cross-cultural perspective (pp. 167–185). London: Sage .
19.
Jorge, A. (1995). Mesa Blanca: A Puerto Rican healing tradition. In L. L. Adler & B. R. Mukherji (Eds.), Spirit versus scalpel: Traditional healing and modern psychotherapy (pp. 109–119). London: Begin and Garvey .
20.
Krippner, S. (1972). Altered states of consciousness. In J. White (Ed.), The highest state of consciousness (pp.1–5). New York: Doubleday .
21.
Lambek, M. (1989). From disease to discourse: Remarks on the conceptualization of trance and spirit possession. In C. Ward (Ed.), Altered states of consciousness and mental health: A cross-cultural perspective (pp. 36–61). London: Sage .
22.
Levin, P., Lazrove, S., & van der Kolk, B. (1999). What psychological testing and neuroimaging tell us about the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder by eye movement desensitization and reprocessing . Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13(1–2), 159–172 .
23.
Locke, R., & Kelly, E. (1985). Preliminary model for the cross-cultural analysis of altered states of consciousness . Ethos, 13(1), 3–55 .
24.
Macculloch, M., & Feldman, P. (1996). Eye movement desensitization treatment utilizes the positive visceral element of the investigatory reflex to inhibit the memories of post-traumatic stress disorder: A theoretical analysis . British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 571–579 .
25.
McNally, R. J. (1999). EMDR and mesmerism: A comparative historical analysis . Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13(6), 611–615 .
26.
Muris, P., & Merckelbach, H. (1999). Traumatic memories, eye movements, phobia and panic: A critical note on the proliferation of EMDR . Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 13(1–2). 209–223 .
27.
Naamouni, K. (1995). La culte de Bouya Omar. Casablanca: Editions Fennec .
28.
Nathan, T. (1994). L’Influence qui guérit. Paris: Éditions Odile Jacob .
29.
Neher, A. (1962). A physiological explanation of unusual behaviour in ceremonies involving drums . Human Biology, 34, 151–160 .
30.
Rouget, G. (1985). Music and Trance: A Theory of Relations between Music and Possession. Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
31.
Rousseau, C., Morales, M., & Foxen, P. (2001). Going home: Giving voice to memory. Strategies of young Mayan refugees who returned to Guatemala as a community. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal.
32.
Shaara, L., & Strathern, A. (1992). A preliminary analysis of the relationship between altered states of consciousness, healing and social structure . American Anthropologist, 94(1), 145–160 .
33.
Shapiro, F. (1995). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing: Basic principles, protocols and procedures. New York: Guilford Press .
34.
Shapiro, F., & Forrest, M. S. (1997). EMDR: The breakthrough ‘eye movement’ therapy for overcoming anxiety, stress and trauma. New York: Basic Books .
35.
Shepherd, J., Stein, K., & Milne, R. (2000). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: A revew of an emerging therapy . Psychological Medicine, 30, 863–871 .
36.
Somer, E., & Saadon, M. (2000). Stambali: Dissociative possession and trance in a Tunisian healing dance . Transcultural Psychiatry, 37(4), 580–600 .
37.
Summerfield, D. (1999). A critique of seven assumptions behind psychological trauma programmes in war-affected areas . Social Science & Medicine, 48, 1449–1462 .
38.
Summerfield, D. (2001). The invention of post-traumatic stress disorder and the social usefulness of a psychiatric category . British Medical Journal, 322, 95–98 .
39.
Tinker, R., & Wilson, S. (1999). Through the eyes of a child: EMDR with children. New York: Norton Professional .
40.
Ward, C. (1989). The cross-cultural study of altered states of consciousness and mental health. In C. Ward (Ed.), Altered states of consciousness and mental health: A cross-cultural perspective (pp. 15–35). London: Sage .
41.
Wilson, S., Tinker, R., & Becker, L. (1995). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment for psychologically traumatized individuals . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63(6), 928–937 .
42.
Watzlawick, P. (1978). The language of change: Elements of therapeutic communication. New York: Basic Books .
43.
Young, A. (1995). The Harmony of Illusions: Inventing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
