Purpose: Addiction-focused eye movement desensitization reprocessing (AF-EMDR) is a viable add-on therapy to treat memories that drive addiction cravings. However, little research has explored AF-EMDR and its effects in people with substance abuse disorder (SUD). The purposes of this study were to determine the feasibility of conducting AF-EMDR and to test the preliminary efficacy of AF-EMDR on overall cravings experienced by persons with SUD, craving, perseverations associated with addiction, and irrational cognitions related to addiction.
Methods: This pilot study used a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with an experimental group (AF-EMDR + cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT]) and a control group (CBT Only). Thirty participants were recruited from a residential program or a partial hospitalization program in a recovery center in Florida, from October 2021 through January 2022 and randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 15) or the control group (n = 15).
Results: All participants adhered to the four-session 60-min AF-EMDR intervention and post-intervention data collection; 98.33% completed all four sessions. Results indicated significant reductions in cravings, perseverative thoughts about substance of choice, and irrational cognitions among participants in both the experimental (AF-EMDR + CBT) and control (CBT Only) groups during the intervention; however, there was no significant difference between groups.
Conclusions: The results showed positive trends in decreasing craving. However, more clinical trials with a larger sample are necessary to assess the efficacy and sustainability of such effects in persons with SUD.
Keywords: Substance use disorder; addiction-focused EMDR; addiction-related thoughts; cravings; perseverative thinking; substance abuse treatment.