Page 118 - Post-traumatic stress disorder in adults with mild intellectual disability: Screening, assessment, and brief intensive EMDR therapy

Chapter 5
find it very exciting ... I hope this [Intensive EMDR therapy] works,
because once a week did not help.”
Participant two (before therapy): “[The advantage of intensive
therapy is] that you remember things better... Because if you do
it in six months, you do not remember what you said six months
ago.”
Participant three (before therapy): “The intensive part does not
matter to me... No, I do not mind that it is a lot. Because I just
think it is important that it gets done... For me, it is all about the
EMDR.”
Although the participants were informed about the structure of the program
before EMDR therapy, they did not fully understand what the treatment
program would look like in practice. Nevertheless, they seemed generally
positive. Participant one indicated that the intensive approach was exciting
and hoped it to be more effective than the weekly sessions he previously
attended. Participant two considered the intensity as an advantage because
he believed that if sessions were too far apart, previously discussed
topics could be forgotten. His notes and learning experiences also helped
him to gain a better understanding of the process. Participant three had
no objections to the intensive approach and believed that the number of
sessions would not matter, as long as he could achieve his goal with the
therapy. For him, the most important thing was that the therapy would help
him processing his traumas, and he was convinced that the intensity would
help in this regard.
Participant one (after therapy): “That I got rid of it [EMDR therapy]
faster.”
Professional caregiver one (after therapy): “I was afraid that if
he had done it once a week, he would have dropped out more
easily, because he would have had so many days to think of all
kinds of reasons not to... I do not think that it [the intensity of
the EMDR therapy] was very negative. I think it [the intensity of
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