Table of Contents hide

1.1 What Are The Most Effective Types Of Psychotherapy For Treating Ptsd?

1.2 Can Medications Alone Effectively Treat Ptsd, Or Should They Be Used In Combination With Psychotherapy?

1.3 How Long Does PTSD Treatment Usually Last, And What Factors Can Affect The Duration Of Treatment?

1.4 What Self-Help Strategies Can Individuals With PTSD Use To Manage Their Symptoms And Support Their Recovery?

1.5 Are There Any Alternative Or Complementary Therapies That Can Be Effective In Treating PTSD, Such As Acupuncture Or Meditation?

1.6 PTSD Treatment London Conclusion

1.7 FURTHER READING

PTSD Treatment London

PTSD Treatment London. Experiencing a traumatic event can lead to a very challenging time. It can have consequences that are not always immediately visible but can lead to severe mental and emotional issues later on, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD can be very debilitating anxiety-based distress.

PTSD Treatment London. Nightmares, intrusive thoughts and images and difficulties managing emotions can lead to a disorienting and disrupted existence. Developing PTSD can be the normal response to the exceptional circumstances of experiencing trauma.

PTSD Treatment London. Trauma usually impacts an individual’s mental and emotional stability following a distressing or life-threatening event. Trauma is a normal reaction to an extraordinary event, and people often experience shock or denial, which can fade naturally with time.

PTSD Treatment London. A person may undergo a range of emotional reactions, such as fear, anger, guilt, shame, feelings of helplessness and vulnerability. In these cases, the person may need help to overcome the stress and dysfunction caused by the traumatic event and restore the individual to a state of healthy emotional well-being.

PTSD Treatment London. They may have ongoing problems with sleep or physical pain, trouble with their personal and professional relationships, and issues with low self-esteem. For those who have existing mental health problems, events like these could trigger them or make them harder to deal with.

PTSD Treatment London. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can occur following a severely traumatic incident or a series of less severe incidents. In this sense, PTSD can occur as a reaction to experiencing trauma.

PTSD Treatment London. PTSD is known as an anxiety-based disorder, and thus it shares similarities with other anxiety issues, such as OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), Panic Disorder and Social and Health Anxiety.

Complex PTSD is a more complicated version of PTSD, at times confused for a personality disorder, which we can experience due to repeated childhood traumas.

PTSD Treatment London. CPTSD is often more severe if the trauma was experienced early in life, affecting a child’s development. CPTSD can cause similar symptoms to PTSD and may not develop until years after the event. If you feel you might have cPTSD get in touch with us to discuss starting a course in trauma therapy in London.

PTSD Treatment London. It can be easier to speak with a trained PTSD therapist as opposed to a friend or relative. At Therapy Central, we have experienced counsellors, psychologists, and therapists specialising in treating PTSD and trauma work who will actively listen to you.

PTSD Treatment London. They will provide a comfortable, warm and non-judgmental space for you to explore and manage your symptoms. A course in PTSD and Trauma therapy in London with a trained clinician will enable short and long-term benefits.

PTSD Treatment London. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after any event that places us in danger, or where we witness other people suffering or dying. In some cases, hearing about an unexpected loss or harm to a close friend or family member can lead to PTSD.

PTSD Treatment London. Most people have emotional shock and distress symptoms directly following or soon after a traumatic incident. These symptoms often lessen by themselves over a few weeks. But around one in three people experience ongoing symptoms that don’t alleviate or even get worse, and this can mean you have post-traumatic stress disorder.

In around 15 per cent of cases, PTSD symptoms can be delayed by six months or even years called ‘delayed-onset PTSD’. Or in some cases, symptoms vanish, only to return later.

PTSD Treatment London. Medication is not a required treatment for PTSD. But in the event, your PTSD therapist feels you could benefit from medication to help you with your depression and anxiety and allow your symptoms to abate enough that talk therapy can be more effective, they will refer you to a psychiatrist.

PTSD Treatment London. Re-experiencing can be flashbacks or nightmares that can be so realistic you feel you are reliving the experience. You may even feel the emotional and physical sensations associated with the event.

PTSD Treatment London. Avoidance occurs when it is too upsetting to relive the experience over and over. So you distract yourself by avoiding any place, person, or thing that reminds you of the trauma, or by ’emotional numbing’.

Hypervigilance, or ‘hyperarousal’, means constantly having your guard raised and being on the lookout. You may find it particularly difficult to relax or sleep, and other people may notice your jumpiness and irritable state.

What Are The Most Effective Types Of Psychotherapy For Treating Ptsd?

What are the most effective types of psychotherapy for treating PTSD? Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a type of anxiety disorder, can happen after a deeply threatening or scary event. Even if you weren’t directly involved, the shock of what happened can be so great that you have a hard time living a normal life.

People with PTSD can have insomnia, flashbacks, low self-esteem, and a lot of painful or unpleasant emotions. You might constantly relive the event or lose your memory of it altogether.

What are the most effective types of psychotherapy for treating PTSD? When you have PTSD, it might feel like you’ll never get your life back. But it can be treated. Short- and long-term psychotherapy and medications can work very well. Often, the two kinds of treatment are more effective together.

Most PTSD therapies fall under the umbrella of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The idea is to change the thought patterns that are disturbing your life. This might happen through talking about your trauma or concentrating on where your fears come from. Depending on your situation, group or family therapy might be a good choice for you instead of individual sessions.

What are the most effective types of psychotherapy for treating PTSD? Cognitive Processing Therapy. CPT is a 12-week course of treatment, with weekly sessions of 60-90 minutes.

At first, you’ll talk about the traumatic event with your therapist and how your thoughts related to it have affected your life. Then you’ll write in detail about what happened. This process helps you examine how you think about your trauma and figure out new ways to live with it.

For example, maybe you’ve been blaming yourself for something. Your therapist will help you take into account all the things that were beyond your control, so you can move forward, understanding and accepting that, deep down, it wasn’t your fault, despite things you did or didn’t do.

What are the most effective types of psychotherapy for treating PTSD? Prolonged Exposure Therapy. If you’ve been avoiding things that remind you of the traumatic event, PE will help you confront them. It involves eight to 15 sessions, usually 90 minutes each.

Early on in treatment, your therapist will teach you breathing techniques to ease your anxiety when you think about what happened. Later, you’ll make a list of the things you’ve been avoiding and learn how to face them, one by one. In another session, you’ll recount the traumatic experience to your therapist, then go home and listen to a recording of yourself.

Doing this as “homework” over time may help ease your symptoms.

What are the most effective types of psychotherapy for treating PTSD? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. With EMDR, you might not have to tell your therapist about your experience. Instead, you concentrate on it while you watch or listen to something they’re doing maybe moving a hand, flashing a light, or making a sound.

The goal is to be able to think about something positive while you remember your trauma. It takes about 3 months of weekly sessions.

Stress Inoculation Training. SIT is a type of CBT. You can do it by yourself or in a group. You won’t have to go into detail about what happened. The focus is more on changing how you deal with the stress from the event.

You might learn massage and breathing techniques and other ways to stop negative thoughts by relaxing your mind and body. After about 3 months, you should have the skills to release the added stress from your life.

The brains of people with PTSD process “threats” differently, in part because the balance of chemicals called neurotransmitters is out of whack. They have an easily triggered “fight or flight” response, which is what makes you jumpy and on edge. Constantly trying to shut that down could lead to feeling emotionally cold and removed.

Medications help you stop thinking about and reacting to what happened, including having nightmares and flashbacks. They can also help you have a more positive outlook on life and feel more “normal” again.

Can Medications Alone Effectively Treat Ptsd, Or Should They Be Used In Combination With Psychotherapy?

Can medications alone effectively treat PTSD, or should they be used in combination with psychotherapy? Post-traumatic stress disorder treatment can help you regain a sense of control over your life. The primary treatment is psychotherapy, but can also include medication. Combining these treatments can help improve your symptoms by:

Teaching you skills to address your symptoms
Helping you think better about yourself, others and the world
Learning ways to cope if any symptoms arise again
Treating other problems often related to traumatic experiences, such as depression, anxiety, or misuse of alcohol or drugs

You don’t have to try to handle the burden of PTSD on your own.

Can medications alone effectively treat PTSD, or should they be used in combination with psychotherapy? Several types of psychotherapy, also called talk therapy, may be used to treat children and adults with PTSD. Some types of psychotherapy used in PTSD treatment include:

Cognitive therapy. This type of talk therapy helps you recognize the ways of thinking (cognitive patterns) that are keeping you stuck, for example, negative beliefs about yourself and the risk of traumatic things happening again. For PTSD, cognitive therapy often is used along with exposure therapy.
Exposure therapy. This behavioural therapy helps you safely face both situations and memories that you find frightening so that you can learn to cope with them effectively.

Exposure therapy can be particularly helpful for flashbacks and nightmares. One approach uses virtual reality programs that allow you to re-enter the setting in which you experienced trauma.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR combines exposure therapy with a series of guided eye movements that help you process traumatic memories and change how you react to them.

Your therapist can help you develop stress management skills to help you better handle stressful situations and cope with stress in your life. All these approaches can help you gain control of lasting fear after a traumatic event. You and your mental health professional can discuss what type of therapy or combination of therapies may best meet your needs.

You may try individual therapy, group therapy or both. Group therapy can offer a way to connect with others going through similar experiences.

Can medications alone effectively treat PTSD, or should they be used in combination with psychotherapy? Antidepressants. These medications can help with symptoms of depression and anxiety. They can also help improve sleep problems and concentration.

The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medications sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil) are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for PTSD treatment.

Anti-anxiety medications. These drugs can relieve severe anxiety and related problems. Some anti-anxiety medications have the potential for abuse, so they are generally used only for a short time.
While several studies indicated that prazosin (Minipress) may reduce or suppress nightmares in some people with PTSD, a more recent study showed no benefit over a placebo. But participants in the recent study differed from others in ways that potentially could impact the results.

Individuals who are considering prazosin should speak with a doctor to determine whether or not their particular situation might merit a trial of this drug.

You and your doctor can work together to figure out the best medication, with the fewest side effects, for your symptoms and situation. You may see an improvement in your mood and other symptoms within a few weeks.

Tell your doctor about any side effects or problems with medications. You may need to try more than one or a combination of medications, or your doctor may need to adjust your dosage or medication schedule before finding the right fit for you.

Can medications alone effectively treat PTSD, or should they be used in combination with psychotherapy? Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common, often debilitating mental health condition that occurs in some people who have experienced trauma.

It can hurt mood, mimicking depression, and is characterized by petrifying episodes in which affected people re-experience the trauma. New research suggests psychotherapy may provide a long-lasting reduction of distressing symptoms.

Throughout a lifetime, many people directly experience or witness trauma, such as sexual assault, violence, or natural disasters. Experts estimate that 10% to 20% of these people will experience acute (short-term) PTSD.

Some will go on to develop chronic (long-term) symptoms. Overall, about 8% of all people will develop PTSD during their lifetime, highlighting the need for effective treatments.

When a person has PTSD, the brain can become sensitized in a state of constant hyperarousal. Nightmares are exceptionally common. People struggling with PTSD often begin to avoid a range of triggering environments.

This can further fuel social isolation, making it difficult to hold a job and nurture relationships. Altogether, PTSD can lead to substantial disability and emotional burdens on people who have it and society at large.

Experts have long disagreed on optimal treatment approaches. Current standards of care for treatment may include

medications, such as antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and alpha-1 blockers such as prazosin (Minipress)
certain forms of psychotherapy, such as prolonged exposure therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

However, recommendations made by different expert panels vary substantially on the order in which to try these treatments. For example, the American Psychological Association and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies recommend antidepressants known as SSRIs as possible first-line treatment.

Most other guidelines, including those from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence and the National Health and Medical Research Council, recommend using SSRIs only if initial attempts at psychotherapy are unsuccessful.

Can medications alone effectively treat PTSD, or should they be used in combination with psychotherapy? Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) This is a form of psychotherapy for children up to age 5 who have experienced traumatic events or who are experiencing trauma symptoms, difficulty bonding, or behavioural problems, Connors says.

One of the main goals is to support and strengthen the relationship between the caregiver and child to protect the child’s development and recovery from trauma, she explains.

Strengthening Families Coping Resources (SFCR) This is a trauma-focused, multifamily, skill-building intervention that offers trauma treatment and therapeutic strategies to help improve families’ abilities to cope with ongoing stress and threats of re-exposure, Connors says.

Take good care of yourself. Be sure to eat a healthy diet, exercise, and get enough rest. Nicotine may worsen PTSD symptoms, so try to avoid this substance. You may also want to limit caffeine, as it has been shown to disturb sleep, which can affect your symptoms.

How Long Does PTSD Treatment Usually Last, And What Factors Can Affect The Duration Of Treatment?

How long does PTSD treatment usually last, and what factors can affect the duration of treatment? The length of treatment for psychological problems will necessarily vary from one individual to another. Essentially, the treatment (type and duration) should always be matched appropriately to the nature and severity of the person’s presenting difficulties.

Acute difficulties usually require fewer treatment sessions than chronic conditions. Moreover, the length of treatment also varies with the type of treatment provided; cognitive behavioural treatments, which focus on a specific problem, are generally briefer than psychotherapies with a broader focus.

In practice, patients and therapists sometimes prefer to continue treatment over longer periods (e.g., 20 to 30 sessions over six months), to achieve more complete symptom remission and to feel confident in the skills needed to maintain treatment gains

How long does PTSD treatment usually last, and what factors can affect the duration of treatment? Living with PTSD can be a nightmare, common concerns people have include how long PTSD lasts and whether PTSD will ever go away.

The exact answer varies from person to person, as PTSD is a very individualized disorder; the nature of the trauma that causes PTSD differs, and each person’s reaction is unique (PTSD Causes: Causes of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder). However, certain factors can influence the answer to the questions about how long PTSD lasts and does it ever go away.

How long PTSD lasts depends on multiple factors. Some relate to the trauma itself, while others relate to the person and his/her life. Trauma-related factors that impact the duration of PTSD include:

Multiple or chronic trauma experiences vs. a single traumatic event
Intentional trauma vs. accidental trauma
Human-induced trauma vs. natural disasters/traumas
Sexual assault vs. traumatic event not sexual in nature

Experiencing multiple traumas tends to make PTSD last longer, as do repetitive traumas, intentional traumas, human-induced traumas, and sexual assaults.

Person- and life-related factors that impact the duration of PTSD include:

History of other traumatic experiences
Living with other mental health challenges
The repertoire of PTSD coping skills
Level of social support for PTSD

In general, PTSD lasts longer in people who have experienced other traumatic events in the past, have current or past mental health difficulties, use fewer coping skills, and have little social support.

How long does PTSD treatment usually last, and what factors can affect the duration of treatment? Research has proven therapy to help reduce and overcome PTSD (PTSD Therapy and Its Role in Healing PTSD). Therapy reduces the duration of PTSD because as the therapist and client work together,

Trauma’s negative impact is decreased and the person can return to his/her earlier level of functioning
The person learns effective, healthy coping skills so PTSD doesn’t last as long
Memories, negative thoughts and intense feelings become easier to deal with
Healthy new behaviours are learned to replace PTSD-induced avoidance, anger, etc.

Generally, therapy lasts between six and 12 weeks. It may last longer than that, but it still diminishes how long PTSD lasts (Sutton, 2011).

How long does PTSD treatment usually last, and what factors can affect the duration of treatment? Often, PTSD can be completely overcome (Does A PTSD Cure Exist?). Sometimes, though, there are lingering effects.

Living with PTSD can be a nightmare for multiple reasons, including the fact that positive feelings, trust, and a sense of closeness and intimacy seem out of reach for a long time. With time and treatment, though, most people greatly improve and are once again able to enjoy positive relationships.

However, approximately five- to 10 per cent of people who developed PTSD after a trauma continue to have long-term relationship problems Canton, 2011).

Even when someone experiences ongoing relationship problems, therapy can help diminish them over time. Further, other effects of PTSD disappear, making the lingering relationship difficulties a bit easier to deal with.

According to the National Center for Victims of Crime (1992), in people who have been raped, the trauma and resulting PTSD may cause permanent physiological changes in the brain (PTSD in Rape and Abuse Victims).

These individuals tend to have a lasting inability to Accurately gauge the passage of time, so they are very frequently early or late for work/events/obligations, or they don’t show up at all

See the big picture to determine if a problem is big or small; to these individuals, every little problem seems like a crisis. Some effects of PTSD do last years or a lifetime, but most do not.

How long does PTSD treatment usually last, and what factors can affect the duration of treatment? Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health issue that may develop after a traumatic event. It causes negative, anxious emotions.

Some people with PTSD relive the event over and over. Others avoid any reminders of it. PTSD interferes with life, work and relationships. But, medication and counselling can help, even years later.

At least half the people in the United States have experienced a traumatic event. Among this group, 10% of men and 20% of women develop PTSD. Women experience neglect or abuse during childhood more often than men. They also experience sexual assault and domestic violence more often. Women tend to experience trauma differently than men, too.

A traumatic event causes PTSD. But, scientists aren’t sure why some people get PTSD and others don’t.

PTSD symptoms vary from person to person. Still, everyone with PTSD experiences one or more of the following:

Avoiding things: You may avoid people or situations that remind you of the event. Examples include friends you met in the military service, the part of town where you experienced the trauma or crowds in general. Some people with PTSD try to stay so busy that they don’t think about the event.
Being on edge: The disorder can make it hard for you to relax or enjoy the things you used to. You may feel jittery or anxious. Maybe you’re easily startled or always expect something bad to happen. You also may have trouble sleeping or concentrating.
Having negative thoughts and feelings: PTSD can make you feel negative, angry, sad, distrustful, guilty, or numb.
Reliving or re-experiencing the traumatic event: This can take the form of flashbacks or dreams. Perhaps a noise like a car backfiring or seeing something similar (for example, a fire) will trigger sudden, unwelcome memories.

What Self-Help Strategies Can Individuals With PTSD Use To Manage Their Symptoms And Support Their Recovery?

What self-help strategies can individuals with PTSD use to manage their symptoms and support their recovery? Diagnosis of PTSD requires exposure to an event that involved the actual or possible threat of death, violence or serious injury. Your exposure can happen in one or more of these ways:

You directly experienced the traumatic event
You witnessed, in person, the traumatic event occurring to others
You learned someone close to you experienced or was threatened by the traumatic event
You are repeatedly exposed to graphic details of traumatic events (for example, if you are a first responder to the scene of traumatic events)

You may have PTSD if the problems you experience after this exposure continue for more than a month and cause significant problems in your ability to function in social and work settings and negatively impact relationships.

What self-help strategies can individuals with PTSD use to manage their symptoms and support their recovery? Post-traumatic stress disorder treatment can help you regain a sense of control over your life. The primary treatment is psychotherapy, but can also include medication. Combining these treatments can help improve your symptoms by:

Teaching you skills to address your symptoms
Helping you think better about yourself, others and the world
Learning ways to cope if any symptoms arise again
Treating other problems often related to traumatic experiences, such as depression, anxiety, or misuse of alcohol or drugs

You don’t have to try to handle the burden of PTSD on your own.

What self-help strategies can individuals with PTSD use to manage their symptoms and support their recovery? Deep Breathing. Breathing plays an important role in the stress response. Unfortunately, many people do not breathe properly.

Over time, people forget how to breathe this way and instead use their chest and shoulders. This causes short and shallow breaths, which can increase stress and anxiety.

Fortunately, it is possible to re-learn how to breathe deeply from your diaphragm and help protect yourself from stress. Practice simple deep breathing exercises to improve your breathing and combat anxiety.

What self-help strategies can individuals with PTSD use to manage their symptoms and support their recovery? Progressive Muscle Relaxation. Using relaxation exercises can also be an effective coping skill for PTSD that provide a way to reduce your stress and anxiety.

Progressive muscle relaxation focuses on alternating between tensing and relaxing different muscle groups throughout the body. This relaxation method is similar to a pendulum. Complete relaxation of your muscles can be obtained by first going to the other extreme (that is, by tensing your muscles).

In addition, by tensing your muscles (a common symptom of anxiety) and immediately relaxing them, the symptom of muscle tension may become a signal to relax over time.

What self-help strategies can individuals with PTSD use to manage their symptoms and support their recovery? Mindfulness. Mindfulness techniques are useful coping skills for PTSD.

Mindfulness has been around for thousands of years, and mental health professionals are beginning to recognize that mindfulness can benefit people dealing with anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.

It is important to note that this type of self-reflection can sometimes bring difficult emotions or thoughts to light, particularly if you have a history of trauma. Some research has also reported that some people may experience significant distress when practising mindfulness, including increased anxiety symptoms, dissociation, and emotional numbing.

Are There Any Alternative Or Complementary Therapies That Can Be Effective In Treating PTSD, Such As Acupuncture Or Meditation?

Are there any alternative or complementary therapies that can be effective in treating PTSD, such as acupuncture or meditation? Some conventional therapies for PTSD (e.g., exposure-based cognitive behavioural therapies [CBT]) include elements that are consistent with CIH approaches, but they are not conceptualized as the mechanism of change.

For example, relaxation techniques may be used to increase adherence to and tolerability of exposure, but a repeated confrontation with the feared stimulus is the primary driver of change.

In contrast, the “Third Wave” psychotherapies, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), integrate mindfulness with behavioural and cognitive strategies.

Mindfulness–one definition of which is “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” is seen as an important agent of change in these approaches because it shifts the individual’s perspective in a way that counteracts hypothesized psychopathological processes.

Are there any alternative or complementary therapies that can be effective in treating PTSD, such as acupuncture or meditation? In general, reported rates of CIH use are similar in Veteran and civilian samples, ranging from approximately one-quarter to one-half of respondents, depending on the type of CIH and health conditions assessed.

Active military personnel are not captured in nationally representative or Veteran samples, but research suggests rates of CIH use in the military are similar, if not higher than rates of CIH use among Veterans and civilians.

The use of CIH approaches specifically for the management and treatment of mental health problems is common and increasing. Among a nationally representative sample, rates of CIH increased for managing anxiety (20.2% to 27.9%) and depression (40.9% to 42.7%) between 1990 and 1997.

In another nationally representative sample, survey results showed that CIH approaches were used more commonly than conventional therapies to treat self-defined anxiety attacks (51.9% vs. 40.8%) and severe depression (63.9% vs. 36.4%).

There has been one published randomized clinical trial of acupuncture as a treatment for PTSD. In that study, acupuncture was superior to the waitlist and comparable to group CBT for PTSD in a non-Veteran sample. Although the effect size was large, the sample was small and there was no control for the nonspecific features of acupuncture (i.e., sham acupuncture).

A systematic review described the evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture for PTSD as encouraging but concluded that further trials are needed. Of note, 5 of the 6 studies examined in that review were conducted in China, where acupuncture is a mainstream treatment.

Therefore, findings may not generalize to the use of acupuncture as a CIH modality in Western conventional medicine.

Are there any alternative or complementary therapies that can be effective in treating PTSD, such as acupuncture or meditation? Several studies have evaluated different meditative practices.

A randomized controlled trial found that a 6-week group intervention that provided training in mantra repetition (silent repetition of a spiritually meaningful word) in conjunction with treatment as usual (medication and case management) had a small to moderate effect on PTSD symptoms among Veterans with chronic PTSD as compared to treatment as usual alone.

It is difficult to interpret the observed benefits in the mantra repetition group as due only to the intervention because there was no control for the nonspecific treatment effects, such as additional clinical contact, of the group-based mantra repetition intervention.

Niles et al. (2012) found that an 8-week mindfulness intervention was superior to psychoeducation, both delivered by telehealth. Those who received the mindfulness condition showed greater improvement in PTSD symptoms, but these improvements were not sustained after treatment ended.

It is not clear if the brief nature of the intervention or the modality of delivery (telehealth vs. face-to-face) affected the results.

Are there any alternative or complementary therapies that can be effective in treating PTSD, such as acupuncture or meditation? More recently, a randomized controlled pilot study compared Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) plus usual care to usual care alone.

Both groups had improved PTSD symptoms at post-treatment, but between-group differences were not observed in intent-to-treat analyses, although the observed within-group effect was larger in the group that received MBSR in addition to usual care.

As with the trial of mantra repetition described above, the nonspecific treatment effects of MBSR, such as additional clinical contact and group support, were not controlled for in this pilot study, which leaves the possibility that the few differences that were observed could be attributable to these other factors.

Are there any alternative or complementary therapies that can be effective in treating PTSD, such as acupuncture or meditation? Yoga. One small RCT compared an adjunctive, 12-session yoga intervention to an assessment control in a sample of Veteran and civilian women.

Although there were significant decreases in PTSD symptoms (specifically re-experiencing and hyperarousal symptoms) in both groups, there were no between-group differences.

Both treatment arms required weekly, structured group interactions and general behavioural activation, which may have partially contributed to the similar levels of clinical change (small to moderate effect sizes) observed in both study arms.

PTSD Treatment London Conclusion

PTSD Treatment London Conclusion People with PTSD are often apprehensive about making contact with healthcare services; are often anxious or feel ashamed; believe that PTSD is untreatable; and may not know what interventions and help are available.

PTSD Treatment London Conclusion However, people with PTSD do come into contact with healthcare services, for instance, 61% of those screening positive for PTSD had contacted some form of healthcare service during the last year, with the vast majority speaking to their GP.

FURTHER READING

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