The EMDR Research Foundation is dedicated to the promotion of quality, unbiased research in EMDR Therapy and other scientific approaches to mental health, as well as the education of mental health professionals and the public. The Foundation’s purposes are:
- To invest in the development and dissemination of high-quality research to inform, strengthen and expand the understanding and effective use of EMDR
- To ensure the development of a comprehensive understanding of the range of effectiveness of EMDR therapy so that mental health professionals and the public are well-informed and able to make the best decisions regarding evidence-based treatment options
- To enhance the quality of life for people everywhere by facilitating healing, health, and well-being
In an effort to ensure the funding of high-quality, publishable studies, the Foundation strongly encourages applicants to review the CONSORT website here, especially when requesting large grants. The CONSORT website has guidelines for a variety of designs appropriate to the study of EMDR as well as checklists and examples of those designs. Our review process is likely to favor studies meeting these standards. Guidelines for social and psychological interventions can be found here.
Research Priorities
First – Advancing Evidence Based Practice: Increasing the availability of quality EMDR research in areas where we already have a foot-hold in the literature, but more evidence is needed. Specifically, those areas are in the use of EMDR therapy to treat: anxiety, depression, military PTSD, phantom limb pain, and to mediate the impact of cardiac events, the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and to enhance recovery.
Second – Addressing the Global Burden of Trauma: Investigating the use of EMDR in disaster response, whether that is natural or man-made disaster. That would include determining the effectiveness of the early intervention protocols, the child or adult group protocols, or the use of EMDR standard protocols in disaster response.
Third – Building Clinical Evidence: There are a number of areas where EMDR therapy is being used, clinical observations are positive, and there are some research indicators of success. However, more research is needed to build a body of literature in these populations or diagnostic categories. Those areas include, but are not limited to: addictions, eating disorders, dissociative disorders, additional medical/somatic conditions, and suicide.
We intend that these priorities would apply to research across the lifespan, so that a study might address, for example, adolescent suicide, or geriatric depression.
Grants
To support these research priorities the EMDR Research Foundation has established four mechanisms to fund research and dissemination of research on EMDR therapy:
$40,000 Research Grant Award
- A researcher who has earned a master’s degree or doctorate in social work, psychology, nursing, or a related field who is affiliated with a college, university, or research institution is eligible to apply for this grant.
- Practitioners/clinicians who possess relevant research experience are encouraged to apply. Collaborative partnerships between researchers affiliated with a college, university, or research institution and practitioners/clinicians with expertise in EMDR are encouraged and preferred. If the research grant is awarded, the affiliated institution must assume responsibility for and serve as the fiscal agent for the project. The principal investigator will assume responsibility for and serve as the fiscal agent for any project without an institutional affiliation.
- Those practitioners/clinicians who don’t have an affiliation or relationship with an academic institution or have limited experience in research but have a research project they would like to explore are encouraged to apply for our Research Consultation Award. (See below)
As an international organization the EMDR Research Foundation accepts proposals from U.S. and international researchers, however, applications must be submitted in English and budgets developed in U.S. dollars.
View Research Grant Awards Guidelines
Sandra Wilson Memorial Doctoral Dissertation Grant Awards
Eligible doctoral students may apply for a grant of up to $5,000 to support dissertation expenses related to research to study the effectiveness of EMDR in one of our priority areas listed above: combat trauma, depression, children & adolescents.
View Doctoral Dissertation Grant Application Guidelines
Research Consultation Awards
Research consultation awards of up to $1,000 are available for clinicians, post-doctoral students, or university faculty interested in conducting research on EMDR and disseminating findings to the practice and scientific communities. The purpose of this award is to facilitate access to the expertise needed in order to advance the development of an EMDR research project, to support the completion of a project or the writing of an article for publication in a professional journal.
View Research Consultation Awards Guidelines
Research Dissemination Travel Award
The EMDR Research Foundation offers a travel award of up to $1,000 to support the dissemination of research findings by clinicians, doctoral students, or university faculty presenting their research at local, national, and international non-EMDR professional meetings. The travel award must be applied for and awarded prior to meeting attendance. Distribution of the funds will be made after the meeting upon submission of the required documentation.
View Research Dissemination Travel Awards Guidelines
Other Grant Opportunities:
EMDR Europe has announced that their Research Proposal for Funding applications is now open. Clinical and basic research projects have been extremely important for the development and recognition of EMDR Therapy. In order to contribute to the development of these projects, the EMDR Europe Association has set up grant applications for European investigators. You will find the funding application form at the following link: EMDR Europe Funding application form.
Research Grant Award Recipients
To see a list of awards granted by the EMDR Research Foundation since 2010, please go to our Research Award Recipients page by clicking here.
