Page 108 - Post-traumatic stress disorder in adults with mild intellectual disability: Screening, assessment, and brief intensive EMDR therapy

Chapter 5
suitable daytime activities or employment, this participant, along with the
third participant, was unsuccessful in securing such opportunities.
For each participant, a professional caregiver was involved in the study
and regularly supported them in their daily life. Additionally, three of the
six EMDR therapists involved in the therapy study (Versluis et al., 2025a)
participated in this study.
Brief Intensive EMDR therapy with rotating therapists
Participants received EMDR therapy twice daily for a maximum of two
weeks, provided by six different EMDR therapists. All were certified ‘EMDR
Europe practitioners’ or had completed the basic and advanced EMDR
courses accredited by the Dutch EMDR Association and had treated at
least 20 clients with MID-BIF for PTSD using EMDR therapy prior to the
start of the study. The participants received therapy in a room located in
a building on the care park where they lived. See Versluis et al. (2025a) for
a detailed description of therapy. A week before therapy, psychoeducation
about PTSD and EMDR therapy was provided to professional caregivers
and, if possible, the participants’ relative. It was agreed with the
participants’ team of professional caregivers that before and after therapy
sessions, participants would resume their usual daily activities, such as
going to work. In cases where existing programs did not provide sufficient
activities, a tailor-made plan was developed. These activities may include
craft or household chores. A professional caregiver, and the participant
determined whether a professional caregiver would be present during the
therapy sessions. Participants were not trained in coping skills or emotion
regulation techniques prior to the treatment (Josefa et al., 2019).
The first therapy session included making a case conceptualisation (a list of
traumatic and stressful events to be treated), and psychoeducation about
PTSD and EMDR therapy was provided to the participant. Each subsequent
therapy session consisted of 60 minutes of EMDR therapy, whereby the
EMDR protocol for children and adolescents up to 18 years of age (De Roos
et al., 2021) was used. Once a memory was successfully processed, it was
marked as complete on the participant’s case conceptualisation list. Therapy
then moved on to the next traumatic event. Therapy was completed after
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