Therefore, humans need methods that can help them to deal with their anxiety. Traditional methods, like for example, the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), have been established as empirically supported treatments for anxiety disorders (e.g., Chambless and Ollendick 2001), however, they often require relative long periods of treatment: “The large majority of people who suffer from an anxiety disorder are able to reduce or eliminate their anxiety symptoms and return to normal functioning after several months of appropriate psychotherapy” Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (APA 2013). Hence, researchers are always looking for new methods

which can also be successful in reducing anxiety symptoms using shorter periods of time. The purpose of this paper was to investigate an advanced version of the technique of Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR; Shapiro 1989) for the treatment of anxiety, the so-called wingwave method (Besser-Siegmund Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and Siegmund 2010, 2013). The inventors of this method affirm that the wingwave method is appropriate in reducing anxiety symptoms in only a few hours of intervention. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The wingwave method utilizes the technique of EMDR (Shapiro 1989) as main intervention tool. EMDR was developed by Shapiro (1989)

for the treatment of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and has been empirically validated (Carlson et al. 1998; Marcus et al. 1997; Rothbaum 1997; Shapiro 1999). In EMDR treatment, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the patient recalls trauma-related memories and while simultaneously attending to inner thoughts and sensory stimulation from a rhythmic, bilateral source. The sensory stimulus is most typically visual (hence “eye movement”), but can be auditory, tactile, or proprioceptive (Shapiro 2001). Furthermore, EMDR is not only used in the treatment of PTSD but also in the treatment of anxiety. There are several Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical SKI-606 molecular weight studies which could show that eye movements (EMDR) can decrease the emotional intensity Megestrol Acetate of anxiety

(Muris and Merckelbach 1997; De Jongh et al. 2002; Graham and Robinson 2007; Smeets et al. 2012). De Jongh and ten Broeke (2009) found that there is randomized outcome research for panic disorders (PD) and specific (i.e., spider) phobia, but not for other anxiety disorders (i.e., social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and general anxiety disorders [GAD]). However, in addition to the intervention with EMDR, the wingwave method uses for the diagnosis of stress triggers and for evaluating the success of the treatment a muscle test named the Bi-Digital-O-Ring-Test (BDORT) originally developed by Omura (1985). The relationship between treatments for anxiety and muscle tension is until now poorly understood (Pluess et al. 2009). Barlow et al.