The lasting effects of childhood trauma
Evidence-based interventions can help address PTSD, other symptoms in adulthood.
Stress inoculation training (SIT) provides psychoeducation, skills training, role-playing, deep muscle relaxation, paced breathing, and thought stopping. Emphasis is on coaching skills to alleviate anxiety, fear, and symptoms of depression associated with trauma. In SIT, exposures to traumatic memories are indirect (eg, role play), compared with PE, where the exposures are direct.25
The American Psychological Association conditionally recommended several other forms for psychotherapy for treating patients with PTSD26:
Brief eclectic psychotherapy uses CBT and psychodynamic approaches to target feelings of guilt and shame in 16 sessions.27
Narrative exposure therapy consists of 4 to 10 group sessions in which individuals provide detailed narration of the events; the focus is on self-respect and personal rights.27
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a 6- to 12-session, 8-phase treatment that uses principles of accelerated information processing to target nonverbal expression of trauma and dissociative experiences. Patients with PTSD are suggested to have disrupted rapid eye movements. In EMDR, patients follow rhythmic movements of the therapist’s hands or flashed light. This is designed to decrease stress associated with accessing trauma memories, the emotional/physiologic response from the memories, and negative cognitive distortions about self, and to replace negative cognition distortions with positive thoughts about self.25,27
Continue to: Accelerated resolution therapy
