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The history of EMDR Therapy goes back to 1987, when it was introduced as EMD, a novel treatment for PTSD by Francine Shapiro. Over the course of time EMD developed into the comprehensive therapy approach named EMDR Therapy. The development of the “Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) Model”, the model of pathogenesis and change of EMDR Therapy, was a milestone in this development from technique to psychotherapy approach. Up to date EMDR Therapy offers not only a model of pathogenesis and change, but also a variety of treatment plans and techniques to treat patients of various diagnosis far beyond PTSD. What seems to be missing is a specific description of the therapeutic relationship in EMDR Therapy. The therapeutic relationship should be described as a core element of EMDR Therapy, and seems be related to the structure of EMDR Therapy. As attachment theory offers a view on the development of interpersonal relationships in general, an attachment theory based perspective of the therapeutic relationship seems advisable. A description of the therapeutic relationship in EMDR Therapy is necessary at this point of the development of EMDR Therapy to a psychotherapeutic approach and therefore we try to describe the therapeutic relationship in this article and point out parallels between the therapeutic relationship and the development and core features of an attachment based relationship. We propose to describe EMDR Therapy as a sensitive psychotherapy. Implications for treatment, training and research will be discussed.

This article presents a strategy for the initial step of data harmonization in Individual Participant Data syntheses, i.e., making decisions as to which measures operationalize the constructs of interest - and which do not. This step is vital in the process of data harmonization, because a study can only be as good as its measures. If the construct validity of the measures is in question, study results are questionable as well. Our proposed strategy for data harmonization consists of three steps. First, a unitary construct is defined based on the existing literature, preferably on the theoretical framework surrounding the construct. Second, the various instruments used to measure the construct are evaluated as operationalizations of this construct, and retained or excluded based on this evaluation. Third, the scores of the included measures are recoded on the same metric. We illustrate the use of this method with three example constructs focal to the Collaboration on Attachment Transmission Synthesis (CATS) study: parental sensitivity, child temperament, and social support. This process description may aid researchers in their data pooling studies, filling a gap in the literature on the first step of data harmonization. • Data harmonization in studies using combined datasets is of vital importance for the validity of the study results. • We have developed and illustrated a strategy on how to define a unitary construct and evaluate whether instruments are operationalizations of this construct as the initial step in the harmonization process. • This strategy is a transferable and reproducible method to apply to the data harmonization process.