Low self-esteem has a negative influence on psychological symptoms like depression and anxiety and can cause patients to relapse after treatment. Research indicates that low self-esteem can even be a causal factor in developing psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety. For this reason treatment should be focused more on changing low self-esteem instead of only treating the DSM-IV disorder. Cognitive interventions that focus on learning patients to formulate more positive and realistic thoughts, seem to be effective. However a much heard complaint is that patients after treatment do ‘know’ that their negative thoughts about themselves are not true but that they don’t ‘feel’ better about themselves. It could be argued that Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) could lead to a better treatment result by treating the damaging events that are at the core of the low selfesteem. The fact that EMDR can lead to results in just a few sessions could even mean that EMDR is a more efficient and cost effective treatment for low self-esteem compared to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The current study is a randomized controlled trial in adults with low self-esteem. They will be treated with EMDR or treatment as usual, i.e. CBT.
Samenwerking:
Prof. dr. A. de Jongh, dept. of Social Dentistry and Behavioral Sciences, Vereniging EMDR Nederland (subsidiegever)