Psychotherapies for PTSD: what do they have in common?
Over the past three decades, research and clinical practice related to the field of traumatic stress have developed tremendously. In parallel with the steady accumulation of basic knowledge, therapeutic approaches have been developed to treat people suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related psychological problems. Today, a number of evidence-based treatments are available. They differ in various ways; however, they also have a number of commonalities. Given this situation, clinicians may wonder which treatment program to use, or more specifically, which treatment components are critical for a successful therapy. In this article, seven pioneers who have developed empirically supported psychotherapies for trauma-related disorders were asked to compose an essay of three parts: first, to provide a brief summary of the treatment they have developed; second, to identify three key interventions that are common and critical in treating PTSD; and third, to suggest important topics and future directions for research. The paper ends with a summary highlighting the identified commonalities (psychoeducation; emotion regulation and coping skills; imaginal exposure; cognitive processing, restructuring, and/or meaning making; emotions; and memory processes), pointing to future directions such as trying to better understand the underlying mechanisms of action, and developing treatments that are tailored to the needs of different patient groups.
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland; ulrich.schnyder@access.uzh.ch.
Ulrich
U
Schnyder
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Anke
A
Ehlers
Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Thomas
T
Elbert
Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Edna B
EB
Foa
Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Diemen, The Netherlands.
Berthold P R
BP
Gersons
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Translational Science, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
Patricia A
PA
Resick
Mental Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Francine
F
Shapiro
National Center for PTSD-Dissemination & Training Division, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA, USA.|NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City, NY, USA.
Marylène
M
Cloitre
Psychotraumatology; cognitive restructuring; complex PTSD; exposure; posttraumatic stress disorder; psychoeducation; psychotherapy