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. 2025 Dec;16(1):2571253.
doi: 10.1080/20008066.2025.2571253. Epub 2025 Oct 29.

Frontliners narratives: qualitative insights into EMDR group therapy during COVID-19

Laura Torricelli  1 , Ivanna Gasparini  2 , Matias Eduardo Diaz Crescitelli  3 , Silvia Filiberti  1 , Laura Remondini  4 , Luca Ghirotto  3 , Elisa Rabitti  1   2 , Giulia Rubini  1 , Eleonora Zini  1 , Silvia Di Leo  1
Affiliations

Frontliners narratives: qualitative insights into EMDR group therapy during COVID-19

Laura Torricelli et al. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2025 Dec.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic raised unprecedented challenges for frontline healthcare workers and emergency volunteers, leading to significant psychological distress. To address these issues, EMDR-IGTP (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing-Integrative Group Treatment Protocol) was proposed as a trauma-focused group intervention. Although its efficacy is widely documented, little is known, from a qualitative perspective, about the experiences of frontliners who underwent this treatment during the pandemic.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the experiences of frontline professionals and volunteers who underwent EMDR-IGTP during the first wave of the pandemic, to improve psychotherapists' knowledge and skills in managing the psychological processes activated during treatment. Method: A qualitative study was conducted within the Emergency Psychology Programme of a northern Italian Health Authority. Semi-structured interviews were performed with 20 frontline workers who had attended EMDR-IGTP sessions. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to identify patterns and insights from participants' narratives.Results: Two overarching themes: (1) the participants' experiential journey through EMDR-IGTP, encompassing dealing with an unfamiliar treatment and with multifaceted reactions to adverse bodily sensations, be wondered of floating between the present and the past, achieving relief after going through complex reactions and searching for meanings for the lack of benefit; and (2) insights into intervention components, namely psychoeducation, the 'butterfly hugging' technique, and the group as both a safe container and a challenging context.Conclusions: Our findings offer insights for psychotherapists conducting group EMDR in emergency contexts. Psychoeducation and linking EMDR techniques to their theoretical underpinnings can help recipients fully benefit from the intervention. Adequate time should be reserved to create a safe environment and to evaluate how single receivers 'inhabit' the group. Future research should address the longer-term impact of group EMDR through longitudinal follow-up of recipients, as well as participant characteristics that shape engagement with EMDR in the group setting.

Antecedentes: La pandemia de COVID-19 planteó desafíos sin precedentes para los trabajadores sanitarios de primera línea y los voluntarios de emergencias, lo que provocó un importante malestar psicológico. Para abordar estas cuestiones, se propuso el EMDR-IGTP (Protocolo de Tratamiento Integrativo en Grupo de Desensibilización y Reprocesamiento por Movimientos Oculares) como intervención grupal centrada en el trauma. Aunque su eficacia está ampliamente documentada, se sabe poco, desde una perspectiva cualitativa, sobre las experiencias de los trabajadores de primera línea que se sometieron a este tratamiento durante la pandemia.

Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio era investigar las experiencias de los profesionales y voluntarios de primera línea que se sometieron a EMDR-IGTP durante la primera ola de la pandemia, con el fin de mejorar los conocimientos y habilidades de los psicoterapeutas en la gestión de los procesos psicológicos activados durante el tratamiento.

Método: Se llevó a cabo un estudio cualitativo dentro del Programa de Psicología de Emergencias de un Servicio Publico de salud del norte de Italia. Se realizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas a 20 trabajadores de primera línea que habían asistido a sesiones de EMDR-IGTP. Se empleó un análisis temático reflexivo para identificar patrones y conclusiones a partir de las narrativas de los participantes.

Resultados: Se identificaron dos temas generales: (1) el recorrido experiencial de los participantes a través del EMDR-IGTP, que abarca el manejo de un tratamiento desconocido y reacciones multifacéticas a sensaciones corporales adversas, la sensación de flotar entre el presente y el pasado, el alivio tras pasar por reacciones complejas y la búsqueda de significados para la falta de beneficios; y (2) las percepciones sobre los componentes de la intervención, a saber, la psicoeducación, la técnica del «abrazo de mariposa» y el grupo como contenedor seguro y contexto desafiante.

Conclusiones: Nuestros hallazgos ofrecen información útil para los psicoterapeutas que realizan EMDR en grupo en contextos de emergencia. La psicoeducación y la vinculación de las técnicas de EMDR con sus fundamentos teóricos pueden ayudar a los receptores a beneficiarse plenamente de la intervención. Se debe reservar el tiempo adecuado para crear un entorno seguro y evaluar cómo los receptores individuales «habitan» el grupo. Las investigaciones futuras deben abordar el impacto a largo plazo del EMDR grupal mediante un seguimiento longitudinal de los receptores, así como las características de los participantes que determinan su compromiso con el EMDR en el entorno grupal.

Keywords: COVID-19; EMDR-IGTP; frontliners; healthcare professionals; investigación cualitativa; pandemia; pandemic; personal de primera línea; post-traumatic stress disorder; profesionales sanitarios; qualitative research; trastorno por estrés postraumático.

Plain language summary

EMDR-IGTP facilitated emotional relief and trauma processing in frontline healthcare workers.Psychoeducation on trauma and EMDR mechanisms was crucial for treatment acceptance.Participants appreciated the group as a safe space, despite individual differences.Challenges included initial skepticism, emotional resistance, and difficulty interacting with others in the group.Insights underscore the need for personalised approaches and the importance of assessing who can benefit from this type of intervention.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Qualitative findings. Main themes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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