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Safety First? Trauma Exposure in PTSD

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Exposure Therapy

Abstract

Fears of harming the patient through exposure therapy are common among therapists treating PTSD patients. As a consequence, many clinicians recommend being careful with exposure and to apply a phased-treatment approach including an extended stabilization procedure before exposure. However, evidence from randomized controlled trials shows that the so-called trauma-focused approaches are the most successful methods for the treatment of PTSD. These approaches include some types of exposure with only rudimentary stabilization or with no stabilization at all. There is no evidence that exposure procedures are more dangerous than stabilization, or that they are less well tolerated and accepted. Likewise, there is no evidence that stabilization is necessary for patients with complex trauma-related disorders such as adult patients with a history of childhood sexual abuse. Rather, current evidence of PTSD treatment argues for the application of individualized treatment approaches including an early exposure to traumatic memories as well as other specialized treatment methods for PTSD-associated symptoms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany

    Frank Neuner

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  1. Frank Neuner
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Correspondence to Frank Neuner .

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  1. Praxis für Verhaltenstherapie, Follerstr. 64, Cologne, 50676, Germany

    Peter Neudeck

  2. Inst. Klinische Psychologie und, Psychotherapie, TU Dresden, Chemnitzer Str. 46, Dresden, 01187, Germany

    Hans-Ulrich Wittchen

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Neuner, F. (2012). Safety First? Trauma Exposure in PTSD. In: Neudeck, P., Wittchen, HU. (eds) Exposure Therapy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3342-2_17

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