Is EMDR recognized by the scientific community?
This is a great question. When EMDR was new, it was highly controversial and some people called it "quackery." However, now that there has been so much research, including with control groups, it is well respected by major organizations. Below is a list of organizations that have endorsed Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing:
International Treatment Guidelines
American Psychiatric Association (2004).
EMDR is recommended as an effective treatment for trauma.
National Council for Mental Health: Guidelines for the assessment and professional intervention with terror victims in the hospital and in the community. Jerusalem, Israel.
California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (2010)
Clinical Division of the American Psychological Association. Chambless, D.L. et al. (1998). Update of empirically validated therapies, II. The Clinical Psychologist, 51, 3-16.
Department of Veterans Affairs & Department of Defense (2010). VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Post-Traumatic Stress. Washington, DC: Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs and Health Affairs, Department of Defense. “A strong recommendation that clinicians provide the intervention to eligible patients. Good evidence was found that the intervention improves important health outcomes and concludes that benefits substantially outweigh harm.”
International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. EMDR was listed as an effective and empirically supported treatment for PTSD. Foa, E.B., Keane, T.M., Friedman, M.J., & Cohen, J.A. (2009). Effective treatments for PTSD: Practice Guidelines of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies New York: Guilford Press.
French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Paris, France.
National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (2005).=
SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (2011) http://nrepp.samhsa.gov/ViewIntervention.aspx?id=199
Therapy Advisor (sponsored by National Institute for Mental Health) (2004-11): http://www.therapyadvisor.com
United Kingdom Department of Health (2001). Treatment choice in psychological therapies and counselling evidence based clinical practice guideline. London, England.
World Health Organization (2013). Guidelines for the management of conditions that are specifically related to stress. Geneva, WHO.