This document discusses various treatment approaches for PTSD, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), exposure therapy, and alternative therapies like acupuncture, dog training, and transcendental meditation. It provides details on CBT and its goal of modifying erroneous cognitions and promoting effective coping. EMDR is described as involving imaginal exposure to trauma and lateral eye movements or tapping. The document also notes some studies found EMDR to be more effective than CBT for PTSD and that exposure therapy provides long-term benefits.

2.  Randomized controlled trial issues
 Inherent problems in design
 Dropout rates between 20-50% (Barnes, Rigg,
Williams, 2013)
 Presentation focus

3.  “CBT is a broad term covering a number of
interventions designed to challenge and
modify erroneous cognitions, reduce the
intensity and frequency of distressing negative
emotional reactions via exposure to safe but
feared situations and objects, and promote
effective coping” (Cahill, 2007, para. 3).

4.  Cognitive-behavioral approaches most studied
in PTSD treatment (Foa & Meadows, 1997).
 Confronting erroneous cognitions and
cognitive restructuring
 It is not the event that causes distress, but what
the client thinks about that event that is
problematic.
 Negative thoughts replaced with more realism

5.  EMDR = Eye Movement Desensitization/Reprocessing
 20 controlled randomized published studies (Korn, 2009)
 Caution that studies may have methodological issues and
some are not well controlled (Foa & Meadows, 1997)
 Imaginal exposure to trauma, then reprocessing
(cognitive restructuring)
 Lateral focus such as tapping

6.  Amygdala may be overactive (Tucker &
Trautman, 2000)
 Korn (2009) found that PTSD symptoms
subsided only after trauma-focused exposure
work

7.  EMDR more effective than CBT (Capezzani,
Ostracoli, Cavallo, Carletto, & Ferndandez,
2013)
 Exposure therapy is an effective long-term
treatment for PTSD (Foa, Rothbaum, Riggs, &
Murdock, 1991)

8.  Participants gained new memory association
(Foa, et al, 1991)
 Memory versus Experience (Weis, 2010)
 Recorded narrative sessions (Cahill, 2007)

9.  Defined (Taylor, 2003, p. 181)
 First anxiety sensitivity training, then exposure
therapy
 Faster symptom reduction than with exposure
therapy alone

10.  Acupuncture (Koffman & Helms, 2013)
 Dog training (Yount, Ritchie, Laurent,
Chumley, and Olmert, 2013)
 Transcendental meditation (Barns, Rigg, &
William, 2013)

11.  Barnes, V. A., PhD., Rigg, J. L., M.D., & Williams, J. J., L.C.S.W. (2013). Clinical case series:
Treatment of PTSD with transcendental meditation in active duty military personnel. Military
Medicine, 178(7), e836-40
 Cahill, S. P. (2007). PTSD: Treatment efficacy and future directions. Psychiatric Times, 24(3), 32.
 Capezzani, L., Ostacoli, L., Cavallo, M., Carletto, S., Fernandez, I., Solomon, R., Cantelmi, T.
(2013). EMDR and CBT for cancer patients: Comparative study of effects on PTSD, anxiety, and
depression. Journal of EMDR Practice and Research, 7(3), 134-143.
 Foa, E. B., & Meadows, E. A. (1997). Psychosocial treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder:
A critical review. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 449-80.
 Koffman, Robert L,M.D., M.P.H., & Helms, Joseph M,M.D., F.A.A.M.A. (2013). Acupuncture
and PTSD: 'come for the needles, stay for the therapy'. Psychiatric Annals, 43(5), 236-239
 Korn, D. L. (2009). EMDR and the treatment of complex PTSD: A review. Journal of EMDR
Practice and Research, 3(4), 264-278
 Taylor, S. (2003). Anxiety sensitivity and its implications for understanding and treating PTSD.
Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 17(2), 179-186.
 Tucker, P., & Trautman, R. (2000). Understanding and treating PTSD: Past, present, and future.
Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 64(3), 15.
 Yount, Rick,M.S., L.S.W., Ritchie, Elspeth Cameron,M.D., M.P.H., St. Laurent, Matthew, MS,
OTR, Chumley, Perry,D.V.M., M.P.H., & Olmert, M. D. (2013). The role of service dog training
in the treatment of combat-related PTSD. Psychiatric Annals, 43(6), 292-295.