What Are The Psychotherapy Techniques For Post-traumatic Stress?
Post-traumatic stress is a psychological disorder associated with a traumatic experience that produces consequences that can last for years or even decades if not treated by professionals. That is why it is important to know its characteristics to go to therapy as soon as its symptoms appear, without allowing time to pass and the psychopathology to consolidate in the memory system of those who suffer from it.
In this article We will talk about post-traumatic stress disorder and the psychotherapeutic techniques used for its intervention.
Post-traumatic stress disorder appears as an independent disorder for the first time in the third edition of the Diagnostic Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM III). Currently, DSM 5 establishes that to diagnose it in a patient, compliance with at least 4 criteria or symptomatological categories is required in order to make the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Likewise, the symptoms will need to be present for more than a month and, as with other disorders, that the situation generates discomfort in the subject or its functionality is affected.
The diagnostic criteria are the following:
It is considered that the trauma that triggers the onset of PTSD is actually the mark that the traumatic experience leaves in the emotional memory of the person, that is, the part of our mental activity dedicated to storing and evoking the emotional charge linked to an event that we have experienced (which cannot be expressed directly in words). As this memory content is “filed” in a dysfunctional way, it gives rise to anxiety crises and emotional imbalances when it emerges in the form of flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, etc.
Psychotherapy techniques used for post-traumatic stress disorder
Now that we know better what the characteristic symptoms of PTSD are and the alteration that they entail, let’s see what the intervention of a psychology professional in the face of this type of mental alteration can consist of. Different types of treatments, both pharmacological and psychological, have been tested the latter being the ones that have demonstrated the greatest effectiveness because they do not limit themselves to mitigating symptoms in the short and medium term.
So, here we will see the most used psychotherapy techniques for PTSD and that allow us to intervene at the root of the problem (although they all have to be used in a therapeutic process, it all depends on the specialties of the psychologist and the needs). of the person who needs professional help).
1. Exposure therapy
Exposure therapy is one of the techniques that has shown the greatest effectiveness. As its name indicates, this usually consists of exposing the subject repeatedly and for a long time to stimuli or symptoms related to the trauma.
The exposure can be done both live and in imagination, depending on the type of traumatic event and depending on the point at which we are in the intervention, how prepared the patient is. In general, live exposure is more effective, but generates greater rejection, because it is usually more uncomfortable and difficult to face.
2. Narrative therapy
Narrative therapy is based above all on dialogue and words, and it is one of the most used resources within the framework of humanistic psychology. It aims to help the person reinterpret their past without being carried away by a bias of negativity and dysfunctional pessimism, so that they are able to reconnect with the experience of living a meaningful life. In this way, it helps the person stop assuming that they are condemned to stagnate in their progress towards happiness and suffer, and can continue participating in an exciting life project in which they can be the protagonist.
3. Treatment of rapid eye movements, desensitization and reprocessing
This technique, known as EMDR for its acronym in English, has as its main purpose carry out a new processing of the traumatic experience to ensure that the memory is integrated into the memory system in a more adequate way. This intervention consists of 8 phases, some of them being more important than others, but the result is that the traumatic experience no longer has the power to emotionally destabilize the person to the point that it poses a problem.
4. Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness training have been used mainly for the purpose of reduce the risk of relapse and increase patient resilience, that is, the ability to face and overcome negative events and continue developing in a functional way. These therapeutic resources help the person to be able to focus on the present moment from an attitude of acceptance, letting go of obsessive thoughts that lead to psychological rumination and constant re-experiencing of the trauma.
Related article: “What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions”
5. Dialectical behavioral therapy
This therapy is mainly used for patients with borderline personality disorder, although the first studies carried out with this intervention have reported positive results in subjects who show poor emotional regulation caused by trauma, as pre-exposure treatment.
6. Combined use of relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques are not used independently, but are applied in conjunction with another intervention such as exposure or EMDR. Thus, Its effectiveness has been proven using it as an adjuvant technique, and its application in isolation is generally discouraged. On the other hand, these are generally simple exercises, so the patient can easily integrate them into their daily routines.
The main objective of this therapy is to modify maladaptive cognitive schemes linked to the traumatic event to reduce discomfort. One of the most used strategies in this framework is cognitive restructuring, which is directly linked to the modification of the patient’s dysfunctional beliefs and interpretations about their problem. This modification of beliefs may be aimed at achieving more functional beliefs related to the trauma or disorder.
You will also work to reduce worries, repetitive negative thoughts, dissociations and concentration difficulties.
The mode of intervention generally consists of reducing the avoidance of the traumatic memory, in order to accept and thus reduce the affectation it entails.
You may be interested: “Cognitive restructuring: what is this therapeutic strategy like?”
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