Treating Psychological Trauma and PTSD

This volume presents an innovative psychobiological framework for understanding and treating PTSD. A major emphasis is the need to reformulate diagnostic criteria and treatment goals to reflect emerging knowledge about the complex pathways by which trauma disrupts people's lives. Within a holistic, organismic framework, the editors identify 65 PTSD symptoms contained within five (rather than the traditional three) symptom clusters, and spell out 80 target objectives for treatment. Expert contributors then provide detailed presentations of core therapeutic approaches, including acute posttraumatic interventions, cognitive-behavioral approaches, pharmacotherapy, group psychotherapy, and psychodynamic techniques, as well as approaches to working with specific populations, including children, refugees, and the dually diagnosed. The concluding section reviews and synthesizes all case material presented, examining which symptoms are addressed by each of the core approaches, which treatment goals are met, and which clients can most effectively be helped. Combining cutting-edge theoretical exposition with clear-cut recommendations for practice, this is an ideal resource for clinicians, students, and researchers.

John P. Wilson, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Cleveland State University.
Matthew J. Friedman, MD, PhD, is Executive Director of the National Center for PTSD, based at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont.
Jacob D. Lindy, MD, is a training and supervising analyst at the Cincinnati Psychoanalytic Institute.

'This scholarly and lucid book offers a comprehensive, 'state-of-the-art' schema for the treatment of multiple aspects of psychological trauma...Will positively affect trauma research and treatment over the next decade.' - International Journal of Group Psychotherapy