Post Trauma Normality

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Guidelines for Mental Health Practitioners Normality of Trauma Response Our understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. We now recognize that it is normal for people to experience psychophysiological changes following trauma. These can include disruptions in sleep, concentration difficulties, increased anxiety, sadness, anger, grief, irritability, hypervigilance, disruptions in work or social functioning, avoidance of thoughts or situations associated with the trauma, and involuntary re-experiencing of traumatic events. The normality of these reactions post trauma is reflected in the diagnostic criteria for PTSD which requires persistence of these symptoms four weeks or longer after the traumatic…show more content…
Also, therapists should be careful not to overwhelm the person with information. What psychological interventions are effective once PTSD is diagnosed? Expert Consensus Guidelines are published (Foa, Davidson, & Frances, 1999) which describe current practices in the treatment of PTSD by experts in the field. These are available on-line for review at: http://www.psychguides.com/gl-treatment_of_PTSD.html The Expert Consensus Guidelines describe in broad detail what therapies are considered effective for PTSD. Two of the recommended therapies are exposure therapy and cognitive therapy (which usually includes exposure therapy as a part of the treatment). The consensus guidelines do not provide detailed information for clinicians on how to implement these effective therapies. Here we recommend some specific references that can help clinicians learn how to use cognitive therapy effectively for PTSD. Exposure Therapy Exposure therapy can help clients overcome one of the central behavioral features of PTSD: avoidance. A detailed description of how to do exposure therapy can be found in Foa & Rothbaum (1998).…show more content…
Natural recovery is hastened if people continue their activities, normalize their trauma-related symptoms, and don’t avoid reminders of the trauma. In contrast, people with persistent PTSD tend to view their trauma symptoms as permanent, negative changes that won’t be overcome. Persistent PTSD is maintained by avoidance (of trauma reminders), rumination, and safety-seeking behaviors (staying home, hypervigilance to danger). In addition, people who experience a natural recovery from trauma are more likely to have an organized, coherent memory of the trauma event. People who experience persistent PTSD often have a fragmented and disorganized memory of the event. This latter finding is consistent with the observation that persistent PTSD is more common in people who cope with traumatic events using dissociation. Dissociation may interfere with the formation of an organized, coherent memory of events. Research Support for the Cognitive Model of PTSD Research supports this cognitive model of PTSD. A number of studies cited in Ehlers and Clark (2000, p. 342) demonstrate the link between persistent PTSD and: appraisals of the trauma, beliefs about PTSD symptoms, and negative judgments about other people’s post-trauma responses. A recent study (Dunmore, Clark, & Ehlers, 2001) demonstrates that cognitive variables predict
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