The psychoanalyst Bion described the theory of containment. This concept can help us understand what happens in the mind of a parent whilst holding a distressed baby. There are also important parallels for the therapist working with a distressed patient. When an infant is distressed, their anxiety is felt to
In perinatal clinical practice, especially in maternity settings, women are frequently referred during pregnancy for treatment of PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD are often the result of a previous traumatic birth. But this raises questions such as….. Is it safe to provide PTSD treatment during pregnancy? What about the possible
PTSD occurs when a person develops rigid, unhelpful beliefs about why a traumatic event occurred. When something frightening and distressing happens, people search for explanations for why. We construct stories to create meaning. We crave a sense of coherence and control. Sometimes we also lay blame, on ourselves or others.
The Transition to Motherhood – Psychological Factors Associated with Pregnancy, Labour and Birth By Dr Emma Symes, MAPS, CCLIN. The Centre for Women’s Mental Health, The Royal Women’s Hospital The ‘ordinary miracle’ of pregnancy and birth is a time of enormous physiological, social and psychological change for women. How a
Assessment Considerations Birth trauma is increasingly gaining attention. Women are beginning to speak more honestly and openly about their experiences in childbirth, and in the case of traumatic birth, to share their stories of pain, anxiety and also recovery. However, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is still too often overlooked as
The first article written on this blog, was about exploring what might be the best treatment for PTSD. Five years later the conclusions are similar. Paula Schnurr, and colleagues (2022) compared prolonged exposure (PE) and cognitive processing therapy (CPT). They had a sample of 916 veterans with military-related PTSD. Participants
In clinical practice being faced with co-morbidity is a common experience, and BPD-PTSD is one of these co-morbidities. The question of what to treat first or if co-morbidities should be treated concurrently was reviewed by a team out of Ryerson University, in Canada. Richard Zeifman and his team (2021) completed
Most clinicians rightly assume that therapeutic alliance is part of an effective therapy. However, how it is effective is still a question to be answered. The link between an alliance and completion of therapy in the PTSD context is assumed to be important. Sijercic and colleagues (2021) examined Therapeutic Alliance
This question was examined by Naomi Ennis, Iris Sijercic and Candice Monson in their systematic review: Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder under ongoing threat, published in 2021. Enis and colleagues highlighted that there is debate about using trauma focused therapy during risk of trauma reexposure when objective safety
Many clinicians fear that by treating PTSD they may push a client too far and trigger strong emotional reactions that lead to suicidal ideation, and an attempt. The increased risk for suicide in those experiencing from PTSD is well known for example, Gradus et al., 2010 studied of a large