Christine Courtois and Julian Ford (eds): Treating Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: An Evidence-Based Guide

Excerpt

This edited volume by Courtois and Ford provides an overview of contemporary theory and clinical practice guidelines for conditions, termed here Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders (TSDs), which arise in response to traumatic stress over prolonged periods of time, or at especially vulnerable developmental periods. While addressing an admittedly controversial topic, the editors of this volume have endeavored to produce a balanced and practical guide for the clinician who is faced with the complexity of a case that does not exhibit a typical PTSD presentation. The book begins with a definition of complex trauma and an overview of issues related to complex trauma, including neurobiological and developmental research and guidelines for best clinical practices with adults and adolescents. It describes approaches to assessment of the sequelae of prolonged trauma, as well as associated features of interest, such as attachment style and abuse history. It also provides overall guidelines for treating trauma-related dissociation as well as cultural competence, therapeutic alliance and approaches to vicarious traumatization. The book reviews some approaches to treatment that will be familiar to readers well-versed in CBT for trauma-related disorders and presents novel treatments for a variety of psychological difficulties associated with a history of chronic pervasive trauma. For instance, the second part of the book focuses on individual treatment and includes chapters on Contextual Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Contextual Behavior Trauma Therapy (CBTT) and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), as well as Sensorimotor Therapy and Pharmacology. Part three of the book focuses on systemic approaches to therapy, including Internal Family Systems Therapy, Couple Therapy, Family Systems Therapy and Group Therapy approaches to the treatment of complex trauma. …