Frank Ochberg The Counting Method

He discusses the effectiveness of this method and even that it has been proven to completely cure PTSD in some patients, mainly veterans which are my target patient of discussion. This article is credible because it was written by a good psychologist and was published in a credible medical journal.

Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder is possible. The current treatment of PTSD encompasses several types of psychotherapy combined with a medication regimen. Cognitive therapy is one type of therapy used to combat PTSD. The goal of cognitive therapy is to allow the patient to slowly experience feelings, thoughts, and events associated with the trauma in a controlled setting. This allows the PTSD sufferer, to categorize the traumatic feelings associated with the event and assign a more positive meaning to them. Thus providing a coping mechanism. Another school of thought places the therapeutic focus on gradually exposing the PTSD sufferer to elements of the trauma. The goal is to desensitize the patient to the traumatic event. This allows the patient to resume a normal life. One other form of therapy used in treatment of PTSD is EMDR. EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a form of exposure therapy that places the emphasis on guided eye movements. The theory is that the movements help retrain how the brain reacts to memories of the traumatic event. Success has

Foa and her colleagues (2011) created prolonged Exposure (PE) for clients trying to overcome with PTSD that is based on the emotional processing therapy (Foa, 2011). PE treatment plan includes collecting of information associated to both the traumatic experience and the trauma survivor's responses to it, the teaching of breathing retraining techniques, education, the re-experiencing of the trauma in imagination, and in vivo exposure (Foa, 2011). When compared with CPT, PE is a 10-session treatment (60-90 minutes) that is centered on both in-vivo and imaginal exposure to the trauma memory and ensuing adaptation. PE reports that repetitive stimulation of the trauma memory allows the clients to integrate new, counteractive information about themself and their world. Additionally, homework assignments in PE allow the client to face safe situations, which were formerly resolute to be threatening based upon inaccurate post-traumatic beliefs (Foa,

The symptoms that are being treated through this individualized treatment plan related to post traumatic stress disorder are: dissociative reactions, irritable and aggressive behavior, concentration problems, and trauma-related external reminders. The first goal is in place to assist Precious in learning to eliminate intrusive memories, a “notable feature of memory in PTSD is the reliving experiences or “flashbacks” to the trauma” (Berwin, 2003, p. 340), and addressing causes of these memories through the intervention of prolonged exposure. In addition, the second goal that is being implemented, preventing and addressing distortions, is being addressed through prolonged exposure. This technique is “a general treatment strategy for reducing anxiety that involves confronting situations, activities, thoughts, and memories that are feared and avoided even though they are not inherently harmful.” (Foa, 1998, p. 65). The flashbacks and distortions that Precious experiences are being addressed through prolonged exposure, due the fact that it

In the case of Conrad Jarrett I would envision utilizing two frontline treatment options in order to reduce the client’s symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Bryant (2008) designed a treatment protocol that combines the use of cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy. Utilizing both of these therapies within structured individual sessions would allow a reduction in negative cognitions (e.g., feelings of guilt and shame) should these feelings intensify during exposure. My concern stems from the patient’s previous attempt at suicide and my desire to provide Conrad with some tools to combat his negative thoughts increasing the likelihood that he will remain unharmed and in therapy through the duration of treatment.

The patients generally come to the clinical settings when secondary stage psychological problems surface. Therefore, early detection of symptoms and impactful intervention is the key to effective management of PTSD [27].

Participants will be collected different PTSD clinics to avoid biases. Patients will be collected in groups each at a time.

Taking into consideration that the scales are able to capture a broader range of behavior they are also limited to their data, and may eventually need to be updated. One major weakness is that there is no data that indicated that with treatment the TSI score of a PTSD patient will decrease. Therefore, one cannot be sure if the overall use of the test is helpful or not. Another weakness is the use of validity scales, since answering the questions are based on the participant being honest. In my experience, most individuals are not entirely honest and either underplay or over exaggerate their issues upon the first meeting. As far as uniqueness, I am not entirely sure how unique the TSI is since it is measuring whether or not an individual is symptomatic with regards to trauma. I feel that anyone could the criteria to diagnose PTSD or any other trauma related condition into test form and say it is useful in assisting with diagnosing PTSD. Since the test does not conclusively diagnose PTSD and does not provide with any follow up to support whether treatment decreases symptoms, I feel it is very similar to most test that assist in diagnoses. In my professional opinion, I feel that the test may be useful at times, however, I do not feel that it would be useful in patience that a therapist or psychologist has just met. Trauma is a sensitive subject and most individuals in therapy, as stated prior, are not necessarily willing to open up immediately or have a tendency to embellish their experiences. Therefore, I believe that while the test could assist in a diagnosis that the data may be skewed and the test have to be taken again in monthly intervals, which is not the intended purpose of the test. Lastly, in my professional opinion I would not use the test. I feel that it may be a waste of money and time, to come up with a diagnosis that an

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

Evidence Based Treatments are national priority of the public of the public. As it relates to PTSD an approach known as Critical Incident Stress debriefing find was used to treat traumatic events in someone life. (Parrish, 2011) For example, a group would come together as compared to the First Responders groups. (Parrish, 2011) Overtime research has proven that the Critical Incident Debriefing or First Responders cause more people to develop PTSD. (Parrish, 2011) Therefore, practicing just wisdom is not efficient enough when treating. (Parrish, 2011) The treatment only becomes more efficient when adding research that has been review to make sure it works. (Parrish, 2011)

Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that may develop after experiencing or seeing a traumatic or a brutal life threatening event. It is increasingly on the rise in war veterans. For those with PTSD only 53 percent have seen physicians or a mental health care provider. And for those who sought out care, roughly only 50 percent received adequate treatment when returning from combat. Although there are many treatments available most patients disregard the obvious signs of PTSD. Because some are afraid of the stigma of PTSD and being labeled as a crazy or violent person, If we create awareness and stop this ignorant notion, people with the disorder would

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

PTSD research is incredibly important, many Americans are affected by PTSD, so the research on how to help deal with and treat it is crucial. “An estimated 7.8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some point in their lives, with women twice as likely as men to develop PTSD. About 3.6 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 to 54 (5.2 million people) have PTSD during the course of a given year. This represents a small portion of those who have experienced at least one traumatic event; 60.7% of men and 51.2% of women reported at least one traumatic event” (The Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, 2007). 7.8% of Americans will experience PTSD in their lifetime, that’s 18.8 million people who

The patients used it this design were outpatients referred in 1992 through 1995 by professionals, Victim Support, police, ambulance, fire services, and even the subjects themselves. The criteria that had to be met in order for the subjects to be used in this study were as followed: PTSD for 6 or more months; age of 16 to 65 years; and absence of melancholia or suicidal intent, organic brain disease, past or present psychosis, antidepressant drug (unless the patient had been receiving a stable dose for 3 or more months); and diazepam in a dose of 10 mg/d or more or equivalent, ingestion of 30 or more alcohol units a week, and past exposure or cognitive therapy for PTSD (Marks et al., 1998). The therapist used a procedure manual and 4 treatment manuals which covered each session in each treatment condition. The sessions were audiotaped and each individual session lasted either 90 minutes or 105 minutes in Exposure Combined with Cognitive Restructuring (EC) therapy.

Research evidenced that CBT is effective helping clients with anxiety related disorders like PTSD. As part of CBT, exposure therapy, cognitive restructuring, and stress inoculation training (SIT) forms part of the techniques to be used in the treatment of PTSD (National Institute of Mental Health, 2009).