ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) versus cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for treating adult posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) .Methods A total of 81 patients with PTSD con‐forming to the including standard were randomly allocated to the EMDR group ,CBT group ,and control group ,27 cases per group . The PTSD symptoms ,anxiety and depression moods in 3 groups were assessed before and after treatment by adopting the Clinician‐administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) ,Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) and Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) .Results The drop‐out rates were 29 .63% for the EMDR group ,7 .41% for the CBT group and 7 .41% for the control group respectively ;the re‐experience symptoms score of CAPS in the EMDR group was lower than that in the CBT group with statistical difference (P=0 . 036) .Conclusion Both EMDR and CBT are the effective psychological therapeutic method ,EMDR has more effective than CBT in the reproving the re‐experience symptoms of PTSD .The future studies should pay more attention to the application of stabilization technologies for reducing the dropout rate of EMDR .