Mr Anthony Hurst3
1Systemic Psychology, Melbourne, Australia, 2University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 3EMDR Association of Australia (EMDRAA), Melbourne, Australia
Biography:
Anthony Hurst is a psychologist and lecturer at the University of Melbourne. He is Board Chair of the EMDR Association of Australia, the national professional association for EMDR therapy, and has served on its Board since 2020. His case law analysis, prepared for ABC Radio National's Law Report, responded to prosecution advice that a Crown witness undergoing EMDR therapy could create an admissibility issue and showed the authorities did not support that position.
Abstract:
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a guideline-recommended, first-line treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, yet in Australian legal settings it has erroneously been singled out as a unique liability to witness memory. This symposium moves from the facts, to the fiction, to the friction, to the future. The first presentation establishes the facts, covering EMDR's efficacy and the research behind its place in the major PTSD guidelines. The second addresses the fiction, taking on the misconceptions that EMDR is hypnosis or a memory retrieval technique, and the false-memory literature invoked to cast it as a distinctive memory risk. The third examines the friction, mapping how these concerns have hardened into prosecution guidelines, case law and systemic harm. The fourth turns to the future, setting out directions for reform, including jury directions on trauma therapy and education for police, prosecutors and the judiciary.