Citation

Tarrier N. Clin. Psychol. Sci. Pract. 2010; 17(2): 134-143.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2850.2010.01203.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder is a serious potential consequence of suffering severe trauma. Effective treatments exist, and these include both cognitive and behavioral, mainly exposure-based treatments. How clinical practice can be guided by the research evidence is a difficult question given the research-practice gap, and clinicians have a duty of care to provide the optimum treatment for their individual patients. Such duty includes not only taking into account the evidence from clinical trials but also a recognition that there is considerable potential heterogeneity in trauma patients. Factors that influence which treatment is recommended and where future development lies include the following: any potential advantage one treatment has when there is equivalent efficacy; the persistence of physical injury, pain, and disability; presence of medical illness; persistent or long-term exposure to traumatic stress; comorbidity of psychological disorders; suicide risk and exposure to aversive psychosocial environments. Lastly, the development of positive psychology may offer further treatment options. © 2010 American Psychological Association.

Language: en

Keywords

PTSD; Behavioral; Cognitive; Exposure-based treatment