Cognitive Processing Therapy And Group Present Centered Therapy Sessions

Anxiety disorders may be assessed using the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders [SCARED-C] (Birmaher et al., 2003). PTSD may be assessed using a variety of methods such as Structured Clinical Interview [SCI], the Diagnostic Interview Schedule [DIS], and the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale [CAPS] (cited in DeNigris, 2008). PTSD is a debilitating state that can develop from traumatic events (Marsh, 2008) . In a recent study conducted by Madigan and colleagues (2015) they state that Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy [TF-CBT] is

Between February 2001 and April 2003, many were completed by approximately 9,282 Americans, 18 years of age or above, completed a survey that was conducted by The National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). According to The National Comorbidity Survey Replication study, 5,692 Americans were diagnosed with PTSD. However, this research used the DSM-4 criteria. It was estimated that the lifetime prevalence was about 6.8% for Americans in young adulthood. This was a jump from the previous year at 3.5%. The lifetime prevalence for women was higher, at 9.7%, than it was for men at 3.6%. “Kessler, R.C., Berglund, P., Delmer, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K.R., & Walters, E.E. (2005).”

The first method of treatment is trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy. In this method, a patient is gradually but carefully exposed to feelings, thoughts, and situations that trigger memories of the trauma. By identifying the thoughts that make the patient remember the traumatic event, thoughts that had been irrational or distorted are replaced with a balanced picture. Another productive method is family therapy since the family of the patient is also affected by PTSD. Family therapy is aimed at helping those close to the patient understand what he/she is going through. This understanding will help in the establishment of appropriate communication and ways of curbing problems resulting from the symptoms (Smith & Segal, 2011).

Spitalnick, Josh. Difede, JoAnn. Rizzo, Albert. O. Rothbaum, Barbara. “Emerging treatments for PTSD” Clinical Psychology Review, Volume 29, Issue 8, December 2009, Pages 715-726, ISSN 0272-7358, Web. 21 April 2016

The freedoms Americans enjoy come at a price; brave military men and women often foot the bill. Many men and women pay with their lives; others relive the sights, sounds, and terror of combat in the form of PTSD. Several causes and risk factors contribute to the development of PTSD. Combat-related PTSD appears slightly different than traditional PTSD. History tells of times when soldiers diagnosed with PTSD were viewed as “weak.” Resources have not always been available to struggling soldiers. The adverse symptoms of PTSD on soldiers and their families can be crippling.

Brian Albrecht, in his article "Families share the pain of veterans' PTSD" (2013), informs the reader of the effects of ptsd war veterans on their family, children and spouses that may cause higher levels in stress and anxiety. Brian supports his assertion by providing the reader with factual evidence of PTSD war veterans from credible resources, such as "This ‘secondary PTSD’ can include distress, depression and anxiety, said the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD" ( Albrecht). The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of the negative effects that ptsd war veterans may inflict in their family and children, in order to treat and prevent higher levels of stress and anxiety throughout the family. The authors creates

In the United States (US) posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects 8 out of every 100 persons (United States Department of Veterans Affairs [USDVA], 2015). In which account for about 8 million people that include the military veterans (USDVA, 2015). About 10% of women and 4% of men will develop PTSD during some course of their lives (USDVA, 2015). Veterans are more susceptible to PTSD due to longer exposures to trauma, danger, or witness a violent life threaten incidence during their military service periods (USDVA, 2015). The development of PTSD becomes chronic after no longer seeing or under the “fight-or-flight“ experiences causing a psychological and/ or mental breakdown (National Institutes of Health [NIH], n.d). Such

Evidence points to CPT’s efficacy as a psychological treatment for PTSD and has demonstrated potential to decrease symptoms of depression and guilt. Although more research is needed to determine the effectiveness of CPT with various populations, both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are recommending CPT as an evidence-based treatment for PTSD. A major benefit of CPT the gains are noticeable in a very short period. The rapid response to treatment is particularly important to military and active-duty populations for whom time may be limited (Keane TM, Marshall AD, Taft

Although American service members have felt the lasting effects of combat throughout the history of the nation, it was not until 1980 that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was formally added to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Once referred to as “irritable heart” or “shell-shock,” PTSD made its way into the national spotlight in the years following the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan due to U.S. military members having difficulty reintegrating into civilian life. High rates of suicide, depression, and elevated levels of violent crime within the veteran community made the need to find an effective treatment of this disorder a top priority for the Veterans Health Administration. While it is widely accepted by medical professionals that there is no single, definitive cure for PTSD, many different methods have been cultivated within the past 15 years that make coping with it an easier process; some to a greater extent than others. While medications, namely antidepressants and benzodiazepines, usually find themselves at the forefront of any discussion regarding mental debilitation, they are not a one-size-fits-all solution to the problems that combat veterans face. As this particular disorder is attached to a certain memory or traumatic occurrence, alternative methods of rehabilitation such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE) have also shown promise in

To effectively treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD in combat Veterans and service members, therapists use different techniques, which are preceded by addressing any underlying pain associated with the disorder. In their research, Chard et al. (2011) reported significant modifications to the CPT protocol for use with patients in a TBI-PTSD residential treatment facility, including increasing the number of sessions per week, combining group and individual therapy, and augmenting the treatment with cognitive rehabilitation. However, their research was marred with the use of few participants which provides doubts regarding the outcome of the proposed treatment procedures. Moreover, the researchers do not state with certainty as to the

According to Gulliver and Steffen (2010) individuals involved in treatment for symptoms of PTSD are more likely to meet criteria for a SUD compared to the average person; the same goes for individuals seeking treatment for a SUD in relation to a potential PTSD diagnosis. It is important to address the needs of this population (co-occurring PTSD and SUD) and develop effect treatment methods because they often experience more severe symptoms, have lower functioning in daily activities of living, have poorer sense of wellbeing, poorer physical health, higher rates of chronic physical pain diagnoses, and worse treatment outcomes (Schafer & Najavits, 2007; Gulliver & Steffen, 2010). The development of successful and effective treatment for co-occurring PTSD and SUDs has the potential to significantly impact the public health system by reducing costs associated with untreated or misguided treatment of these two disorders (Gulliver & Steffen, 2010).

Essentially, there is inadequate research comparing the individual and group formats for individuals with PTSD (Barlow, 2014; O’Malley, 2015). Certain interventions are adjustable to either individual or group therapy. The decision to use group therapy depends on the clinician and their judgment of the individual’s needs. Fortunately, recent research shows that group therapy may be beneficial for those who are CSA survivors. Group therapy allows CSA survivors to not feel isolated during treatment. They are able to communicate with others who have also experienced such trauma instead of being around others who do not understand their pain and distress. Overall, group treatment can provide social support for these victims. Also, this treatment

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is becoming very common in today’s society and it’s something that many people will struggle with. PTSD is complicated by the fact that people with PTSD often may develop additional disorders such as depression, substance abuse, problems of memory and cognition, and other problems of physical and mental health. The most tenacious and difficult to treat forms of PTSD are sometimes those that have formed when a trauma victim was dissociative during his or her experience of the trauma. This effects lead to problems in families and make the whole ordeal worse, there is a great effect on families and this will be summarized in the following.

If veterans do struggle with PTSD after they return from combat the Department of Veterans Affairs, a governmental agency that helps struggling veterans recover, offers two treatments. Studies have been done to see if one of the therapies is more effective than the other. There is not yet evidence that one therapy is better than the other. Cognitive processing therapy, CPT, helps by giving the vet a new way to deal with the maladaptive thoughts that come with PTSD. It also comforts them in gaining a new understanding of the traumatic events that happened to them. One of the other benefits of CPT is that it assists the person in learning how these disturbing events change the way they look at everything in life and helps them cope with that (“PTSD: National”). The second newer option of the two is prolonged exposure therapy, which is repeated exposure to these thoughts, feelings, and situations (“Most PTSD”). This type of therapy is now a central piece in the VA’s war on PTSD. “The problem with prolonged exposure is that it also has made a number of veterans violent, suicidal, and depressed, and it has a dropout rate that some researchers put at more than 50 percent, the highest dropout rate of any PTSD therapy that has been widely studied so far,”(“Trauma Post”). Both of the therapies are proven to reduce the symptoms but both have extremely high drop out rates and low follow through. It

The psychotherapies with the most evidence typically include one or more of several productive therapeutic approaches including exposure to traumatic memories, stimuli or situations; cognitive restructuring of trauma-related beliefs; and stress reduction techniques. “The table below summarizes effective PTSD psychotherapy approaches detailed in Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense (VA/DoD) clinical practice guidelines. These treatments should be considered the first line of treatment for patients with PTSD” (Defense Centers of Excellence, 2015)