Pergamon Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 73-88, 1996 Copyright 8 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0887-6185/96$15.00+.00 0887-6185(95)000364 CLJNICAL REPORT An Intensive Design Investigation of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing of Claustrophobia JEFFREY M. LOHR, PH.D., AND DAVID F. TOLIN, MS. Department of Psychology, University of Arkansas RONALD A. KLEINKNECHT. PH.D. Department of Psychology, Western Washington University Abstract - Two claustrophobic subjects were treated with eye movement desensitiza- tion and reprocessing (EMDR), a new treatment for induced anxiety disorders. Both subjects were interviewed to construct detailed images of fear-related events before treatment. The treatment followed a within-series phase-change design to examine the effects of eye movement added to the general treatment protocol. Both subjects’ verbal reports of fear changed substantially when eye movements were added to the general treatment protocol. It was concluded that the addition of eye movement was necessary to reduce the aversiveness of some phobic imagery. No change in heart rate was observed for either subject. These results are discussed within the framework of the growing number of EMDR outcome studies. Since the first published account (Shapiro, 1989), the promotion of eye movement desensitization has prompted a large number of clinical case reports describing the effects of treatment. However, three methodological reviews (Aciemo, Hersen, Van Hasselt, Tremont, & Mueser, 1994; Herbert & Mueser, 1992; Lohr, Kleinknecht, Conley, Dal Cerro, Schmidt, & Sonntag, 1992) con- cluded that empirical support for its efficacy is meager. Correspondence or requests for reprints should be addressed to Jeffrey M. Lohr, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701. 73