Psychosocial Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Immediately after experiencing a traumatic event, many people have symptoms of posttraumaticstress disorder (PTSD). If trauma victims restrict their routine and systematically avoid reminders ofthe incident, symptoms of PTSD are more likely to become chronic. Several clinical studies haveshown that programs of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can be effective in the management ofpatients with PTSD. Prolonged exposure (PE) therapy—a specific form of exposure therapy—canprovide benefits, as can stress inoculation training (SIT) and cognitive therapy (CT). PE is not enhancedby the addition of SIT or CT. PE therapy is a safe treatment that is accepted by patients, andbenefits remain apparent after treatment programs have finished. Nonspecialists can be taught to practiceeffective CBT. For the treatment of large numbers of patients, or for use in centers where CBT hasnot been routinely employed previously, appropriate training of mental health professionals should beperformed. Methods used for the dissemination of CBT to nonspecialists need to be modified to meetthe requirements of countries affected by the Asian tsunami. This will entail the use of culturally sensitivematerials and the adaptation of training methods to enable large numbers of mental health professionalsto be trained together.