Mental Health Practitioners’ Trauma Knowledge and Self-Efficacy Post-EMDR Training

Authors

Christy R. Collins, Stephen F. Austin State UniversityFollow
Shelby L. Dean, Stephen F. Austin State UniversityFollow
Jose Carbajal, Stephen F. Austin State UniversityFollow

Abstract

This research study examines mental health practitioners’ level of trauma knowledge and trauma treatment self-efficacy pre- and post-EMDR therapy training in Texas. The purpose is to determine if practitioners' self-perception of efficacy in treating trauma and trauma knowledge will improve after completing EMDR training. The practitioner sample (N = 113) is from an EMDR trainer who conducted six EMDR trainings in Texas. Descriptive, correlational, and paired t-test statistical procedures were implemented to analyze the data for the study. The results show that practitioners’ self-perception of competence and knowledge could be attributed to their years of clinical experience treating clients with trauma. The results also show practitioners’ knowledge of trauma (pre=3.38, SD=.36; post =3.53, SD=.31 on a 5-point Likert scale) and treatment self-efficacy (pre=5.76, SD=1.98; post =7.77, SD=1.25 on a 11-point Likert scale) improved post-EMDR training with a medium effect size of .44 for knowledge of trauma and a large effect size of -1.21 for treatment self-efficacy. Therefore, EMDR therapy training improved practitioners’ knowledge of trauma and their treatment self-efficacy. The clinical implications of this study show the educational effects EMDR therapy training has on practitioners’ treatment, and based on these results, it is important to determine whether other trauma-focused trainings have similar effects.

Recommended Citation

Collins, Christy R.; Dean, Shelby L.; and Carbajal, Jose (2024) "Mental Health Practitioners’ Trauma Knowledge and Self-Efficacy Post-EMDR Training," Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice: Vol. 10: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/jhstrp/vol10/iss1/2