About
The EMDR Think Tank Initiative
A global, independent consortium operating at the interface of neuroscience, psychotherapy research, and translational psychiatry.
Mission
The ETTI develops a coherent, evidence-based scientific agenda for EMDR therapy that advances its theoretical foundations, optimizes clinical effectiveness, and strengthens its integration into global mental health care. It functions as an international epistemic infrastructure: connecting researchers and scientifically-oriented clinicians across disciplines, regions, and traditions to transform dispersed expertise into a coordinated, cumulative scientific effort.
Vision
The ETTI envisions EMDR therapy as a central, scientifically-grounded component of modern trauma-focused psychotherapy, PTSD treatment, and transdiagnostic care — embedded within a unified framework of translational psychiatry and neuroscience-informed practice. This vision depends on a globally interconnected research community in which scientific insight is generated through rigorous, coordinated collaboration rather than in isolation. The ETTI aims to serve as the intellectual and organizational backbone of this community, shaping the long-term development of EMDR therapy through shared standards, conceptual integration, and strategic research alignment — and upholding the scientific legacy of Francine Shapiro across generations of researchers and clinicians.
Scientific Rationale
EMDR therapy is an evidence-based, transdiagnostic, client-centered psychotherapy grounded in the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model. Originally developed for posttraumatic stress disorder, it has demonstrated efficacy across a wide range of psychiatric and psychosomatic conditions and is included in major international treatment guidelines.
Despite this global dissemination, the field's rapid expansion has not been matched by a unified scientific strategy. Key challenges include:
- Fragmentation of research efforts across regions and disciplines
- Limited integration with contemporary frameworks such as memory reconsolidation, predictive processing, and network models of psychopathology
- Variability in training standards and clinical implementation
- Insufficient coordination toward recognition within national and international health systems
Following the passing of its founder, the field faces a critical juncture — the need to transition from a historically-grounded therapeutic approach to a mature, integrative scientific discipline within psychotherapy research.
ETTI invites researchers committed to this vision to join the work.