EMDR Research Foundation: Research Dissemination Travel Award Grant

The EMDR Research Foundation offers a Research Dissemination Travel Award of up to $1,000 to support clinicians, doctoral students, or faculty presenting EMDR-focused research at professional meetings. This initiative aims to advance evidence-based practice and address global trauma burdens through quality research. Applicants must submit their proposals in English and adhere to specific award criteria. The funds are distributed post-meeting upon documentation submission, ensuring that valuable findings reach wider audiences.

The Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Research Foundation story began in 2006 when it was formed to raise funds to support research in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy. For nearly 20 years, the EMDR Research Foundation has been dedicated to promoting quality, unbiased research in EMDR. With the support of EMDRIA (EMDR International Association) and Dr. Francine Shapiro, the EMDR Research Foundation became an independent 501c (3) non-profit organization.
About EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach that has proven effective for the treatment of trauma by approximately 24 randomized controlled trials and has been recommended as a first-line trauma treatment in the international practice guidelines of numerous organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association (2004).
Controlled research studies are needed to evaluate EMDR therapy’s effectiveness with other disorders, as suggested by preliminary research and anecdotal reports.The EMDR Research Foundation recognizes this need with the following research priorities: Advancing Evidence-Based Practice; Addressing the Global Burden of Trauma; and Building Clinical Evidence
The EMDR Research Foundation offers a travel award of up to $1,000 to support the dissemination of research findings by clinicians, doctoral students, or university faculty presenting their research at local, national and international non-EMDR professional meetings. The travel award must be applied for and awarded prior to meeting attendance. The funds will be distributed after the meeting upon submission of the required documentation.
Areas of Priority
Proposed presentations examining the effectiveness of EMDR Therapy in the three tiers listed below will be considered. These priorities apply to research across the lifespan so that a study might address, for example, adolescent addiction or geriatric depression.
1st Priority – Advancing Evidence Based Practice: Increase the availability of quality EMDR research in areas where we already have a foot-hold in the literature but where more evidence is needed. Specifically, those areas are in the use of EMDR therapy to treat:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Military PTSD
• Phantom Limb Pain
• To enhance recovery from the impact of cardiac events and the diagnosis and treatment of cancer

2nd Priority – Addressing the Global Burden of Trauma: Investigate the use of EMDR in natural or man-made disaster responses, by determining the effectiveness of the following protocols: early intervention protocols, the child or adult group protocols, or the use of EMDR standard protocols in disaster response.
3rd Priority – Building Clinical Evidence: There are a number of areas where EMDR therapy is being used, clinical observations are positive, and there are some research indicators of success. However, more research is needed to build a body of literature in these populations or diagnostic categories, including but not limited to:

• Addictions
• Eating disorders
• Dissociative disorders
• Additional medical/somatic conditions
• Suicide prevention and/or to address the impact of suicide
• Allowable expenses include those direct costs associated with meeting attendance such as meeting registration, airfare, and lodging.

Eligibility

Any clinician, doctoral student, or faculty member that presents their EMDR focused research at a local, national or international non-EMDR professional meeting is eligible to receive a travel award. As an international organization the EMDR Foundation accepts proposals from U.S. and international applicants; however, applications must be submitted in English and budgets developed in U.S. dollars.Award Criteria
The presentation must:Be based upon research conducted specifically on EMDR therapyBe peer-reviewed or invitedBe an oral session or workshop, not a poster sessionAcknowledge travel support from the EMDR Research Foundation