3.3. Procedure

The designed intervention consisted of four phases of bilateral stimulation (visual, auditive, and actuator-based). The first three phases were designed with the aim of reducing the intensity of emotions and beliefs associated with the traumatic event. The fourth phase was introduced to install a positive belief about that event. In addition to visual stimulation, audio and tactile stimulation were used simultaneously, as auditory, and tactile stimuli have been shown to enhance the effect and increase the effectiveness of EMDR intervention [20,21].

The procedure was applied as follows. The participants were informed about the EMDR therapy and instructed on how to use the application. Participants were invited to think about a traumatic event from the past that caused them discomfort, where they failed to overcome it. After accessing the traumatic memory, the IES-R and STAI instruments were applied in the pre-test condition. After the discussion with a specialist, and after the completion of the instruments on the pre-test assessment phase, the participants self-administered the intervention through the application. After the initial assessment, we eliminated four participants because their scores on the IES-R and STAI were very high, and they needed specialized professional treatment. In Table 3 we can see the description of the applied protocol in detail.

Application protocol description.

The detailed steps of the application protocol and their interaction on multiple levels are visually represented in Figure 6.

The representation of the applied application protocol.