Letters to the editor - Re: David Lister's 1999 paper
Received from Carol Arnold CSW, Queens, New York (23.10.99)


"I concur with David Lister's model of utilising EMDR in Medical Practice. My own personal trauma has been around radical surgery when I was 24, which was life saving but nonetheless changed the course of my life. The possibilities for healing are endless if EMDR could be incorporated into complementary care units of hospitals that are becoming popular here in the USA. (Complementary care units are quite unlike British health centres, complementary care units offer yoga, meditation, message, visualization, relaxation techniques, hypnosis and biofeedback to patients suffering from a broad range of medical problems, including those with catastrophic illness. Some include homeopathy and herbal medicine as part of the treatment plan. These units have not been without controversy, and administrators have waged a long and hard battle against the medical establishment.)

Many of the patients that I have seen with cancer or multiple sclerosis may or may not have a trauma history, but often it is the present medical crisis that becomes paralysing. If you, or any of The EMDR Practitioner readers, have any information on how I could link up with people sharing this interest here in New York, please let me know your ideas by contacting me."