In their 2016 review Psychotherapy Versus Pharmacotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Systemic Review and Meta-Analyses to Determine First-Line Treatments, Lee and colleagues concluded that their study findings supported use of trauma-focused psychotherapies over nontrauma-focused psychotherapy or medication as first-line interventions.
Recently at The American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) 2017 Annual Meeting Lori L. Davis, MD, of the VA’s PTSD Psychopharmacology Working Group reported “that the updated guideline is going to read that we ‘recommend’ – which is the highest level of recommendation – that evidence-based, trauma-focused psychotherapy be offered over other treatments for PTSD,”.
But which is the best trauma focused psychotherapy? The one your client chooses, as patient preference has been found to influence PTSD Treatment Adherence
Trauma Focused Therapies include:
- Prolonged exposure (PE)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
References
Lee, D. J., Schnitzlein, C. W., Wolf, J. P., Vythilingam, M., Rasmusson, A. M. and Hoge, C. W. (2016), Psychotherapy Versus Pharmacotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Systemic Review and Meta-Analyses to Determine First-Line Treatments. Depress Anxiety, 33: 792–806. doi:10.1002/da.22511
Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) Conference 2017. Abstract 315R, presented April 8, 2017. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/878509
American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP) 2017 Annual Meeting. Presented June 1, 2017. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/881165?src=wnl_edit_tpal&uac=267782S
