Part I of this course provides an overview of cognitive-behavioral interventions for PTSD. It describes some basic aspects of CBT, outlines cognitive-behavioral theories of PTSD, discusses key trauma-focused CBT interventions, and provides some tips for using CBT to encourage behavior change. Additional resources related to the topic are identified. Part II has two principal objectives. First it will review the psychobiology of the human response to stress in order to establish the pathophysiological rationale for utilizing different classes of medications as potential treatments for PTSD. Second it will review the current literature on evidence-based pharmacotherapy for PTSD. New medications currently being tested will also be discussed. 2007 | 37 pages | 25 posttest questions | Course #30-43

1. List the key elements of four major cognitive-behavioral theories of PTSD

2. Identify concrete ways of increasing compliance with between-session task assignments and reducing treatment dropout

3. Describe the major neurotransmitters, pathways and their implications in the development and treatment of PTSD

4. Report the major pharmacological interventions and their likely mechanisms of action in the care of clients with PTSD/combat stress reactions

Josef I. Ruzek, PhD, is Associate Director for Education at the Education and Clinical Laboratory Division of the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Director of PTSD Education for the Sierra-Pacific MIRECC. He is an editor of the text Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies for Trauma, a writer for the Iraq War Clinician Guide, and co-chair of the Early Intervention special interest group of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Joe was a member of the team that developed the joint VA-DOD Clinical Practice Guideline for Management of Traumatic Stress.

 

Matthew J. Friedman, MD, PhD,is Executive Director of the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Professor of Psychiatry and of Pharmacology at Dartmouth Medical School. He has worked with PTSD patients as a clinician and researcher for thirty years and has published extensively on stress and PTSD, biological psychiatry, psychopharmacology, and clinical outcome studies on depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and chemical dependency. He has written or co-edited fifteen books and monographs, 52 book chapters and 93 peer reviewed articles in scientific journals. Listed in The Best Doctors in America, he is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, past-president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), Chair of the scientific advisory board of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America and has served on many VA and NIMH research, education and policy committees. He has received many honors including the ISTSS Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.

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