Traumatic memories, PTSD, EMDR: the role of scientific evidence

Recently, in Italy, a peculiar situation is evidence in the forensic field. On one hand magistrates with increasing frequency request the evaluation of psychology experts, while on the other there still seems to be a lack of awareness of the scientific value of results in psychological research. As a matter of fact, results in psychological research should have the same dignity as other scientific disciplines’ results, such as biology or medicine. In this context, judges tend to rely to a great degree on psychologists’ reports, while one still finds psychological statements in sentences revealing a naïf understanding of psychological concepts and a substantial lack in knowledge of the scientific literature. Exemplary instances of this state of matters, are the concepts of memory for traumatic events, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis and the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) technique, one of the most widespread treatments in PTSD. By using scientific data, the EMDR example will be treated more in depth, highlighting that EMDR could be a very effective method in appropriate situations and modalities, but it also can be a very problematic method when conditions and/or aims are inappropriate.