Trauma-focused Cognitive Therapy Research Articles

Low-Cost Virtual Reality to Support Imaginal Exposure Within PTSD Treatment: A Case Report Study Within a Community Mental Healthcare Setting

Revisiting what happened during (or after) a traumatic event is an important part of the treatment process in trauma-focused cognitive therapy (TF-CT). However, clinicians may have difficulty helping patients to intentionally retrieve these memories in order to engage with their content. As such, clinical tools to support the access and delivery of imaginal exposure content within treatment may prove to be particularly useful for therapists. This case report introduces work undertaken with Mr. A, a 38-year-old male, who 2 years prior had experienced a city centre assault. Initial assessment revealed a PCL-5 score of 64 and he met DSM-5 criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mr. A received 10 sessions of TF-CT wherein the traditional imaginal exposure components were implemented via a newly developed virtual reality (VR) development workflow called “VR Photoscan.” After 10 sessions, results showed PCL-5 scores decreased from 64 to 19 and Mr. A no longer met DSM-5 PTSD criteria. VR Photoscan was used during 4/10 sessions and included (1) reliving, (2) memory updating, and (3) stimulus discrimination activities. Mr. A also reported VR Photoscan as helpful regarding preparation for site visits. In conclusion, VR Photoscan technology provided a more visceral exposure experience which supported Mr. A to revisit the trauma memory. He reported high levels of satisfaction with the quality of the virtual environment and no issues using the VR technology. Produced with lower costs and shorter development times than typical computer-generated environments, VR Photoscan may be more easily implemented within routine care, although further research is required.

IAPT CBT treatment for PTSD following COVID-19-related intensive care admission – a case study

Abstract The current case study was conducted as part of the National Health Services and Health Education England implemented IAPT top-up training in trauma-focused cognitive therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There has been an increase in the number of clients presenting to IAPT with COVID-19 intensive care unit PTSD since the pandemic. However, there are no current unitary guidelines for psychological therapy for this population. Treatment of PTSD using individual trauma-focused cognitive therapy has been shown to be effective for ICU-PTSD. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence treatment guidelines recommend adapting existing protocols. This study describes how these recommendations were used in the treatment of COVID-19 ICU-PTSD in a 46-year-old male. It illustrates the use of trauma-focused cognitive therapy for PTSD and how ICU trauma memories including hallucinations were conceptualised. It also illustrates how the challenges of co-morbid panic attacks, long COVID and remote working were managed. The client attended 16 individual, 60- to 90-minute video sessions of trauma-focused cognitive therapy, conducted weekly via Microsoft Teams over a period of five months. The treatment plan was conducted in collaboration with the client’s general practitioner, physiotherapists, cardiopulmonary specialists, and his family. Treatment included a timeline, written narrative and imaginal reliving. It also applied stimulus discrimination, behavioural experiments and site visit. At the end of treatment, the client no longer showed clinically important symptoms of PTSD as assessed on the PCL-5 and interview. This was sustained at 3-month follow-up. Key learning aims. It is hoped that the reader will increase their understanding of the following: (1) Delivery of trauma-focused cognitive therapy for ICU-PTSD. (2) Cognitive conceptualisation of the trauma memory including hallucinations. (3) Management of co-morbid symptoms.

Cognitive processes associated with sudden gains in cognitive therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder in routine care.

Objective: Although most studies investigating sudden gains in treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) report a positive association between sudden gains and outcomes at the end of treatment, less is known about sudden gains in routine clinical care and the processes involved in their occurrence. This study investigated changes in cognitive factors (negative appraisals, trauma memory characteristics) before, during, and after sudden gains in PTSD symptom severity. Method: Two samples (N1 = 248, N2 = 234) of patients who received trauma-focused cognitive therapy for PTSD in routine clinical care were analyzed. Mahalanobis distance matching, including the propensity score, was used to compare patients with sudden gains and similar patients without sudden gains. Estimates from both samples were meta-analyzed to obtain pooled effects. Results: Patients with sudden gains (n1 = 76, n2 = 87) reported better treatment outcomes in PTSD symptom severity, depression, and anxiety at the end of therapy and follow-up than those without sudden gains. No baseline predictors of sudden gains could be reliably identified. During sudden gains, those with sudden gains had greater changes in both cognitive factors than matched patients. Meta-analyses of the two samples showed that negative appraisals had already decreased in the session prior to sudden gains compared with matched patients. Conclusions: The pooled estimates suggest that changes in negative trauma-related appraisals precede sudden gains in PTSD symptoms. The results suggest that interventions that promote change in appraisals may also facilitate sudden gains in therapy.

A randomized trial of cognitive behavior therapy and cognitive therapy for children with posttraumatic stress disorder following single-incident trauma: Predictors and outcome at 1-year follow-up.

The 1-year outcome and moderators of adjustment for children and youth receiving treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following single-incident trauma was examined. Children and youth who had experienced single-incident trauma (N = 33; 7-17 years old) were randomly assigned to receive 9 weeks of either trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or trauma-focused cognitive therapy (without exposure; CT) that was administered to them and their parents individually. Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated that both groups maintained posttreatment gains in PTSD, depression and general anxiety symptoms reductions at 1-year follow-up, with no children meeting criteria for PTSD. A large proportion of children showed good end-state functioning at follow-up (CBT: 65%; CT: 71%). Contrary to 6-month outcomes, maternal adjustment no longer moderated children's outcome, nor did any other tested variables. The findings confirm the positive longer-term outcomes of using trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral methods for PTSD secondary to single-incident trauma and that these outcomes are not dependent on the use of exposure. (PsycINFO Database Record

Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a widespread condition, that affects near 20% of individuals, exposed to traumatic event. Moreover, recent studies suggest, that it has a tendency for chronic course and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. According to clinical guidelines as first line therapy for PTSD trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy must be used. In this educational course are presented highlights of 2-day trauma-focused cognitive therapy training, including PTSD symptoms, overall CBT methods overview, theoretical and practical implications.

A cognitive approach to persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD)

AbstractPersistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) has been included in the appendix of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders as a condition for further study, and a new diagnostic category of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is likely to be added to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11) (Maercker et al., 2013). Whilst there is increasing evidence that prolonged grief has distinct characteristics (Bryant, 2012), there are clinical features that overlap with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as intrusive memories, emotional numbing, and avoidance of trauma or loss reminders. Here we describe how the cognitive model for persistent PTSD (Ehlers and Clark, 2000) and trauma-focused cognitive therapy for PTSD (Ehlers et al., 2005) have been helpful in treating persistent complex grief.

Depression and dissociation as predictors of physical health symptoms among female rape survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder.

To investigate the relative contributions of depression and dissociation, as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to physical health symptoms and to examine the relationships among somatic symptoms, PTSD, depression, and dissociation in relation to childhood and adult trauma exposure. Cross-sectional data are from 132 female rape survivors with PTSD assessed before engaging in a study of trauma-focused cognitive therapy for PTSD. Measures included the Pennebaker Inventory of Limbic Languidness, Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Trauma Symptom Inventory-Dissociation Subscale, Childhood Sexual Abuse Exposure Questionnaire, and Assessing Environments-III-Physical Punishment Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that only dissociative and depression symptoms contributed significantly to physical health symptoms. Similarly, among the subsample of women with either childhood sexual or physical abuse, depression and dissociation were significant predictors of somatic symptoms. However, among women without childhood abuse, only dissociation significantly predicted somatic symptoms. Understanding the psychological and biological mechanisms that link childhood versus adult trauma exposure, PTSD, and comorbid depression or dissociation to physical health symptoms may aid development of individualized treatments for the physical and psychological consequences of trauma. (PsycINFO Database Record

Early in-session predictors of response to trauma-focused cognitive therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder

Trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy is effective in treating posttraumatic stress disorder but non-response rates range between 25% and 50%. Results of previous research on patient characteristics predicting outcome are inconsistent and mainly focused on demographic and diagnostic variables. This study examined whether behavioural predictors of poor treatment response can be observed in early sessions. It was predicted that greater patient perseveration, lower expression of thoughts and feelings and weaker therapeutic alliance would be associated with poorer outcomes. We also explored the relationships of patient behaviours with therapeutic alliance and the efficiency and competence of treatment delivery. Audio or video recordings of the initial treatment sessions of 58 patients who had shown either good (n = 34) or poor response (n = 24) to cognitive therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD, Ehlers & Clark, 2000) were blindly coded for patient perseveration, expression of thoughts and feelings, therapeutic alliance, efficiency and competency of treatment delivery and therapist competence. Poor responders showed more perseveration and less expression of thoughts and feelings in the initial session. Patient perseveration and low expression of thoughts and feelings were associated with poorer therapeutic alliance and compromised treatment delivery. Patients with these behavioural characteristics may benefit from additional treatment strategies. Limitations of the study and implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Treating Posttraumatic Stress Disorder With Metacognitive Therapy: A Preliminary Controlled Trial

Exposure, trauma-focused cognitive therapy and eye-movement desensitisation and re-processing (EMDR) are effective treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) producing equivalent outcomes. How might the field advance? One way is to base new treatments on PTSD maintenance mechanisms. A treatment that does this, metacognitive therapy (MCT), underwent preliminary controlled evaluation in this study. Twenty participants aged 18 to 65 years with chronic PTSD were randomly allocated to either a total of 8 sessions of MCT or a delayed treatment control. Measures of PTSD, emotional symptoms, and underlying metacognitive variables were obtained at pretreatment and posttreatment. Patients were followed-up at 3 and 6 months postintervention. Statistically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, depression, and anxiety at posttreatment were observed in the MCT group but not in the control group. Changes were maintained over follow-up. The average number of sessions delivered was 6.4. Eighty percent of patients (intention to treat) met clinical significance criteria for recovery based on the IES. Treatment was well tolerated with only one (10%) dropout. Changes in thought control strategy hypothesized to be involved in the maintenance of PTSD were found. MCT appeared to be a brief treatment producing high recovery rates. The data add to existing uncontrolled evaluations and provide strong justification for future evaluation of this treatment against existing evidence-based interventions.

A Randomized Trial of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Cognitive Therapy for Children with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following Single-Incident Trauma

The present study compared the efficacy of trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) with trauma-focused cognitive therapy (without exposure; CT) for children and youth with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Children and youth who had experienced single-incident trauma (N = 33; 7-17 years old) were randomly assigned to receive 9 weeks of either CBT or CT which was administered individually to children and their parents. Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated that both interventions significantly reduced severity of PTSD, depression, and general anxiety. At posttreatment 65% of CBT and 56% of the CT group no longer met criteria for PTSD. Treatment completers showed a better response (CBT: 91%; CT: 90%), and gains were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Maternal depressive symptoms and unhelpful trauma beliefs moderated children's outcome. It is concluded that PTSD secondary to single-incident trauma can be successfully treated with trauma-focused cognitive behavioural methods and the use of exposure is not a prerequisite for good outcome.