Psychopathology Of Anxiety: A Reflective Report

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

Having a client come to me and states, their life is going great they have no complaints, except that she has debilitating anxiety, when she comes across frogs. I would suggest to my client that she has a fear of frogs and that gradual exposer to frogs and relaxation techniques is my recommendation. My client does not need open-ended therapy. There is no diagnosis or a disease, she is simply just afraid of frogs. I know that this is very unlikely to happen and there is something more to that story. With exposer therapy, her issue from where it started will be

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.

PE is built on the assumption that retelling an account of a traumatic experience repeatedly will allow the brain to fully process the memory of that experience, which makes it less painful and something that no longer dominates their life. Additionally, PE is based in Emotional Processing Theory, which posits that PTSD symptoms arise as a result of cognitive and behavioral avoidance of trauma-related thoughts, reminders, activities and situations. PE helps the client interrupt and reverse this process by blocking cognitive and behavioral avoidance, by introducing corrective information. Finally, PE facilitates in organizing and processing of the trauma memory and associated thoughts and

Unfortunately, the misguided belief of trigger warnings being a protection to PTSD in the classroom may only further damage sufferers. According to Dr. Mark Beuger, an addiction psychiatrist at Deerfield Behavioral Health of Warren, the goal of PTSD treatment is “to allow for processing of the traumatic experience without becoming so emotional that processing is impossible.” (Stone) For trigger warnings to work, the subject must be willing to confront their fears, not avoid them. In an analysis by the Institute of Medicine, they found that exposure therapy is the most effective in treating PTSD. Working with therapists, patients are consistently asked to recount their traumatic experiences in the present-tense. The aim of this is to break the connection between the emotional response and the trauma-related stimuli, so that in the event of a traumatic situation, the patient will be able to deal with the impact of the event.

According to Tuerk, Yoder, Ruggiero, Gros & Acierno (2010), prolonged exposure therapy is a form of therapy treatment applied in posttraumatic stress disorders. Prolonged exposure treatment based on behavioral and cognitive levels of therapy, is a method used in treatment of trauma where the victim remembers the triggers of trauma rather than letting go, as it has been the case. Trained Social workers, psychologists and psychiatrist offer treatment to these conditions. What causes post traumatic stress disorders is not clearly known, but a mix of one's personality, inherited mental functionality risks, the way the brain releases chemicals in dealing with stress, and one's life experiences can be used to draw some insights (Powers, Halpern, Ferenschak, Gillihan & Foa, 2010).

It has been proven to have a better response rate.The Institute of Medicine recognized exposure therapies as the only treatment approach with sufficient empirical data to be deemed effective for PTSD (Institute of Medicine, 2007).While pharmacotherapy with SSRI can reduce symptoms, the most effective treatments involve understanding and overcoming avoidance behaviors (Foa & Rothbaum, 1998) Exposure therapy is a behavioral treatment for PTSD that aims to reduce your fear, anxiety and avoidance behavior by having you fully face, or be exposed to, thoughts, feelings or situations that are feared. During exposure therapy, the patient will face varying stimuli that stimulate the PTSD. This will go on until the intensity of the stimuli is

Exposure and cognitive restructuring are thought to be the most effective components. Exposure-based treatments involve having survivors repeatedly re-experience their traumatic event. There is strong evidence for exposure therapy, one of which being Prolonged Exposure (PE). PE includes both imaginal exposure and in vivo exposure to safe situations that have been avoided because they remind the person of the traumatic event. Cognitive Processing Therapy has a primary focus on challenging and modifying maladaptive beliefs related to the trauma, but also includes a written exposure component. Veterans with chronic military-related PTSD who received CPT showed better improvements in PTSD. EMDR is recommended in most practice guidelines. Patients receiving EMDR engage in imaginal exposure to a trauma while simultaneously performing saccadic eye movements. Overall, these therapy treatments are considered first-line treatments for PTSD and have strong evidence bases and effective

The two types of psychotherapy treatments are exposure therapy and cognitive restructuring. Exposure therapy “helps people face and control their fear. It gradually exposes them to the trauma they experienced in a safe way.” Cognitive restructuring “helps people make sense of the bad memories. Sometimes people remember the event differently than how it happened.”

During the 1980’s an anxiety disorder known as PTSD, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, was recognized when one experienced something horrific and then began to re-experience the traumatic event (Bobo, Warner, and Warner 799). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder can not be cured, only treated. PTSD was originally brought into perspective when combat Veterans could no longer face their experiences on the battlefield. As years went on, victims of rape, assault, or witnesses of a traumatic event were also diagnosed with PTSD. Although society knows the name of this disorder, PTSD is often underrecognized and under-treated (Bobo, Warner, and Warner 797). Many know that it is an anxiety disorder, but few understand the risks that come along with it.

Prolonged exposure requires that the client repeatedly, in a systematic manner, relive the memories of the traumatic event over an extended period of time (Foa, Dancu, Hembree, Jaycox, Meadows, & Street, 1999; Foa & Rauch, 2004; Harvey, Bryant, & Tarrier, 2003). In prolonged exposure, the client is expected to (a) vividly call to mind the traumatic event, with as much detail as possible, (b) recount the memory of the traumatic event to the therapist in the present tense, and (c) have constant exposure to the memory until the distress decreases (McDonagh, McHugo, Sengupta, Demment, Schnurr, Friendman, Ford, Mueser, Fournier, & Descamps, 2005). The therapist’s role, in prolonged exposure, is to help the client identify “hot spots” or the most distressing aspect of the memory. The therapist and the client then develop a hierarchy of memories to address, from least to most distressing. These memories are addressed one at a time until habituation of anxiety to the memory occurs, which is determined by

In addition, Exposure therapy exposes the survivor to aspects of the trauma so they can re-experience the feelings and fears that overwhelm them. By doing this in the safe surrounding of a therapist’s office patients can face their fears and gain control of their emotions so the trauma is no longer as stressful. The patient is exposed to the traumatic event repeatedly and carefully. They may orally tell their experience, listen to someone else recite the event in the order they happened, or be shown detailed images of the event (Thomas 56). Another form of talk therapies is Group therapy. Group therapy is when a survivor can meet with others who have experienced the same type of trauma (Thomas 53).

The therapists that were used were a nurse therapist and a clinical psychologist. In sessions 1 through 5 of Exposure Therapy subjects were asked to imagine their previous trauma memories. Patients were asked to talk in first person tense about what they experienced, and then were asked to imagine and describe critical aspects of the trauma and "rewind and hold"