Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2009, Page 24
5. Positive Cognition (PC): Having the patient offer a presently desired, self-referencing
belief. (Examples of such PCs are ―I am lovable I deserve to live it‘s over I am
safe now.‖)
6. VoC (Validity of Cognition): Occurring on the scale of 1 to 7 relevant to how true the
PC feels to the patient. (This score increases as the patient improves e.g., Q: ―On a
scale of 1 to 7, where 1 feels completely false and 7 feels completely true, how true
does the statement, ‗I am safe now‘ feel to you when you bring up the scene of
waiting for the ambulance at the Kingdom Hall?‖).
7. Emotions/Feelings: Identifying current feelings the incident and the NC bring up.
8. SUDS: Rating how disturbing the incident feels now (this score decreases as the
patient improves).
9. Location of Body Sensation: Identifying where in his/her body the patient feels the
disturbance.
10. Desensitization: Asking the patient to bring up the picture, the NC, and to notice
where he/she feels it in his/her body. I asked Susan to complete the SUDS, VoC,
BDI-II, and IES before the beginning of each session so her first recorded level of
symptoms was actually prior to EMDR.
Results
Despite the fact that Susan had previously participated in rather extensive therapy,
including psychiatric medication, she verbalized little relief from her symptoms. As noted,
she had been disfellowshipped for the second time and had ―officially‖ been out of the JWs
for approximately 6 months at the time we initiated the first EMDR session. As you can see
from Table 1, her response to the EMDR was so dramatic that, within only three sessions,
her presenting symptoms were well on their way to being resolved. It is important to note,
however, that Susan chose to work on quite a few social and occupational issues, which we
did not address in EMDR, following this study.
During Susan‘s EMDR sessions, she decided to choose the past suicide attempt as
something that depicted an ―old issue or memory‖ of her cult experience. The word picture
that represented the worst part of that memory was ‖…having taken the pills, sitting on the
bathroom floor of the Kingdom Hall.‖ Her Negative Cognition was ―I‘m helpless‖ her
Positive Cognition was ―I‘m in control.‖
Susan‘s treatment rapidly progressed, and, as Table 1 reflects, her Subjective Units of
Distress—SUDS (how upsetting the old memory was) reduced to 0, while her Validity of
Cognition—VoC (how true her positive cognition ‗felt‘) increased to 7 both measurements
were in the desired direction.
Table 1
Results of First Three Sessions of EMDR
Measurements and Sessions
Measurement11 (1) (2) (3)
BDI-II 28 19 5
IES
VoC
SUDS
38
2
9
20
4
2
8
7
0
5. Positive Cognition (PC): Having the patient offer a presently desired, self-referencing
belief. (Examples of such PCs are ―I am lovable I deserve to live it‘s over I am
safe now.‖)
6. VoC (Validity of Cognition): Occurring on the scale of 1 to 7 relevant to how true the
PC feels to the patient. (This score increases as the patient improves e.g., Q: ―On a
scale of 1 to 7, where 1 feels completely false and 7 feels completely true, how true
does the statement, ‗I am safe now‘ feel to you when you bring up the scene of
waiting for the ambulance at the Kingdom Hall?‖).
7. Emotions/Feelings: Identifying current feelings the incident and the NC bring up.
8. SUDS: Rating how disturbing the incident feels now (this score decreases as the
patient improves).
9. Location of Body Sensation: Identifying where in his/her body the patient feels the
disturbance.
10. Desensitization: Asking the patient to bring up the picture, the NC, and to notice
where he/she feels it in his/her body. I asked Susan to complete the SUDS, VoC,
BDI-II, and IES before the beginning of each session so her first recorded level of
symptoms was actually prior to EMDR.
Results
Despite the fact that Susan had previously participated in rather extensive therapy,
including psychiatric medication, she verbalized little relief from her symptoms. As noted,
she had been disfellowshipped for the second time and had ―officially‖ been out of the JWs
for approximately 6 months at the time we initiated the first EMDR session. As you can see
from Table 1, her response to the EMDR was so dramatic that, within only three sessions,
her presenting symptoms were well on their way to being resolved. It is important to note,
however, that Susan chose to work on quite a few social and occupational issues, which we
did not address in EMDR, following this study.
During Susan‘s EMDR sessions, she decided to choose the past suicide attempt as
something that depicted an ―old issue or memory‖ of her cult experience. The word picture
that represented the worst part of that memory was ‖…having taken the pills, sitting on the
bathroom floor of the Kingdom Hall.‖ Her Negative Cognition was ―I‘m helpless‖ her
Positive Cognition was ―I‘m in control.‖
Susan‘s treatment rapidly progressed, and, as Table 1 reflects, her Subjective Units of
Distress—SUDS (how upsetting the old memory was) reduced to 0, while her Validity of
Cognition—VoC (how true her positive cognition ‗felt‘) increased to 7 both measurements
were in the desired direction.
Table 1
Results of First Three Sessions of EMDR
Measurements and Sessions
Measurement11 (1) (2) (3)
BDI-II 28 19 5
IES
VoC
SUDS
38
2
9
20
4
2
8
7
0
