Understanding the Development of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy for Children: Findings from a Bibliometric Study

Bibliometric analysis is a quantitative method used to determine the development of a specific academic field, publication trends, the most influential authors, and key topics. Systematically analyzing research on the use of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) in children and adolescents is important for identifying the prominent themes in this area and revealing future research needs. Therefore, this study aims to systematically examine the academic development in this field by taking a bibliometric perspective on the existing literature regarding EMDR applications in children and adolescents. This study examines academic works in the fields of EMDR and child–adolescent mental health conducted between 1998 and 2024 by scanning for the keywords “EMDR”, “children”, and “child” using a bibliometric analysis approach. A total of 358 papers were found in the Scopus database and published between 1998 and early 2024, and only 223 of them were included in the analysis. The most cited authors, journals, organizations, countries, citation trends, key topics, and current growth were analyzed. The findings indicate that EMDR and child research are experiencing robust scientific growth and are receiving increasingly broader academic and clinical attention.