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Selected Annotated References and Reference List for Treatment of PTSD
Jenn Andrus
Appalachian State University
APA (American Psychiatric Association) (2004). Practice guidelines for the treatment of
patients with acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Arlington,
VA: American Psychiatric Association.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) Practice Guidelines have been
developed by psychiatrists who are in active clinical practice and provides treatment
recommendations, discussion of the formulation and implementation of a treatment plan,
and a range of clinical considerations (i.e. age, gender, ethnicity. Treatment overviews
include both pharmacological and psychological interventions with empirical bases. They
further review available evidence, outline future research needs and provide an overview
of ASD and PTSD, including general information on natural history, course, and
epidemiology.
Although an excellent overview and provision extensive research/empirical
investigations of all aspect of ASD and PTSD, the guidelines do lack any true
“guidelines” or protocols for treatment.
APA (American Psychiatric Association) (2004). Treating Patients With Acute Stress
Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Quick Reference Guide.
Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.
A summary/synopsis of the APA’s full practice guideline. The authors urge that
the QRG is not a stand alone reference, but should be used in conjunction with the full
text. The QRC provides a much more palatable overview of evidence provided in the full
length version, which could serve as a good quick reference for clinicians, as intended.
Cahill, S. P., Foa, E. B., Hembree, E. A., Marshall, R. D., & Nacash, N. (2006).
Dissemination of Exposure Therapy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 597–610.
The efficacy of CBT in the treatment of PTSD has been demonstrated by a
considerable amount of research. Exposure therapy is a cognitive behavioral approach
that has independently gained empirical support. Despite the efficacy of CBT and
specifically exposure therapy, very few practitioners are trained in or implement such
techniques in treating clients with PTSD. In this article, the authors explore evidence for
the efficacy of CBT and Exposure therapy, and issues in the clinical application of these
techniques. The authors further explore more recent attempts to disseminate the
techniques to practitioners, and recommendations are made as to how to improve
dissemination and subsequent application of CBT and exposure with those suffering from
PTSD.
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Foa E. B, Davidson, J. R. T., & Frances A. (1999) The Expert Consensus Guideline
Series: Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Clinical
Psychiatry, 60, 1-75.
This publication is based on surveys from over 50 experts on 58 questions related
to psychotherapy and medication treatment of PTSD. It covers diagnosis, selecting
treatment, treatment “trouble shooting”, and issues in primary care.
The manuscript is easy to read, with results for each area table for easy reference
and decision making. It further offers a guide for patients and families that would serve
well as a reference for a clinician, or as a hand out for clients in the psychoeduction phase
of treatment.
Foa, E. B., Keane, T. M., & Freidman, M. J. (2000). Effective Treatments for PTSD:
Practice guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
New York: Guildford.
Viewed as the gold standard of texts regarding the treatment of PTSD today, from
the leading researcher (Foa), and research society for PTSD (ITSS). This edited text
evaluates efficacy and provides guidelines for both established and emerging treatment
approaches for the disorder. It outlines empirical and practical strengths and weaknesses,
as well areas needing further exploration, for all the reviewed approaches. Practitioners
may find the Course of Treatment and Recommendations sections for each approach in
section 2 helpful for discerning appropriateness of different modalities with different
clients.
Resick, P., & Calhoun, K., S. (2001). Posttraumatic stress disorder. In D. Barlow (Ed.),
Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders (pp. 60-113) New York: Guilford.
This chapter provides an overview of diagnosis and prevalence, theoretical
models, assessment, and treatments of PTSD. The treatment section provides outlines for
Stress Inoculation Training, Exposure Techniques, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and offers excellent overviews of
empirical support. Although it does provide some guidance as to technique, the text does
lack a succinct “how to” for clinicians. The chapter further considers therapist, client, and
setting variables critical for consideration in treatment development.
The chapter concludes with a thorough case study which applies Cognitive
Processing Therapy (CPT) and provides an excellent session by session overview of both
specific treatment protocols and application to a case of rape related PTSD, which
clinicians may find helpful in conceptualizing a CPT treatment protocol.
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Richard, D. C. S., & Lauterbach, D. L. (Eds.) (2007). Handbook of Exposure Therapies.
San Diego, Academic Press.
This edited text provides an excellent overview of the applications of exposure
therapy. Although not limited to PTSD, several chapters do focus specifically on the
disorder. In addition to Chapter 5: Exposure Therapy and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder,
Chapter 6 focuses on Exposure therapy with Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
and Chapter 7 focuses on Combat Veteran PTSD.
Additionally, chapters are dedicated to the describing the technique, enhancing
effectiveness in the implementation of the technique, and the effects of pharmacotherapy
in Exposure Therapy, all helpful chapters for clinicians to review despite disorder they
seek to treat with exposure. A chapter on virtual reality applications of exposure
highlights PTSD, and is useful for clinicians in consideration of recent advancements and
applications specifically in this area for PTSD.
VA/DoD (Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense) (2004). VA/DoD
Clinical practice guideline for the management of posttraumatic stress, version
1.0. Washington, DC: Veterans Health Administration, Department of Defense.
This Guideline was designed by and for mental health providers, primary care
clinicians, chaplains, pharmacists, and other professionals to be a comprehensive and
evidenced based resource for identifying, assessing, and/or treating military men, women
and veterans who have survived traumatic events. It offers a decision tree for prevention,
assessment, and treatment with full annotations across a broad range of posttraumatic
disorders.
The Guideline provides clear rationales and overviews, and outlines of various
aspects of primary, secondary and tertiary interventions. Recommendations with
supporting studies citations are tabled for easy review. Guidelines are divided in to
modules for appropriate diagnositc categories relevant to this population: Initial
Evaluation and Triage; Acute Stress Reaction (ASR); Combat and Ongoing Operation
Stress Reaction (COSR); Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) in Primary Care; Management of PTSD in Mental Health Specialty
Care. The appendix includes various screening tools, several which can be used with
“civilian” populations.
Violanti, J. M., & Paton, D. (2006). Who gets PTSD? Issues of Posttraumatic Stress
Vulnerability. Springfield, Illinois: Thomas Books.
Many occupations today involve responses to emergency situations, of which may
be deemed traumatic. Natural disasters, terrorism, and other daily tragedies, expose those
involved in war or rescue operations around the world to such horrific events. This edited
text explores the multifinality of exposure to trauma in attempts to explain why some
result in PTSD where as others do not. Contributing authors explain societal influences,
individual difference, and other risk factors both generally and in specific application to
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occupations such as police officers, military personnel, international aid workers, and
social services.
Wilson, J. P., Freidman, M. J., & Lindy, J. D. (Eds.) (2001) Treating psychological
trauma and PTSD. New York: Guildford.
This edited text focuses on the clinical treatment of trauma and PTSD, and is
organized in to four sections 1) theory, models, and clinical paradigms, 2) clinical
treatment 3) approaches for special populations, and 4) case analysis and practical
considerations. Most noteworthy is the overview of special populations and the provision
of case studies throughout the text. Chapter 15: Case History Analysis of the Treatments
for PTSD: Lessons Learned, chapter examines common features of core approaches
among 27 case histories, treated with different approaches (psychopharmalogical,
psychoanalytic/dynamic, CBT, constructivist, dual diagnosis, culturally specific,
family/couple, group). Chapter 16: Practical Considerations in the Treatment of PTSD:
Guidelines for Practitioners is a good overview of treatment approaches and
considerations for clinicians, and table that may be useful for treatment approach decision
making which outline treatment type, symptom targets, and treatments goals at a glance.
References
APA (American Psychiatric Association) (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revised. Washington DC: American
Psychiatric Association.
APA (American Psychiatric Association) (2004). Practice guidelines for the treatment of
patients with acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. Arlington,
VA: American Psychiatric Association.
APA (American Psychiatric Association) (2004). Treating Patients With Acute Stress
Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Quick Reference Guide.
Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.
Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health. (2007). Australian Guidelines for the
Treatment of Adults with Acute Stress Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder. ACPMH, Melbourne, Victoria.
Cahill, S. P., Foa, E. B., Hembree, E. A., Marshall, R. D., & Nacash, N. (2006).
Dissemination of Exposure Therapy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19, 597–610.
PTSD
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Freidman, M. J. (2004). Acknowledging the Psychiatric Cost of War. New England
Journal of Medicine, 351, 75-77. 1-76.
Foa E. B, Davidson, J. R. T., & Frances A. (1999) The Expert Consensus Guideline
Series: Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Clinical
Psychiatry, 60, 1-75.
Foa, E. B., Keane, T. M., & Freidman, M. J. (2000). Effective Treatments for PTSD:
Practice guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
New York: Guilford.
Kessler, R.C, Sonnega A., Bromet E., Hughes M., & Nelson, C.B. (1995). Posttraumatic
stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General
Psychiatry, 52, 1048-1060.
Krupnick, J., L. (2001). Interpersonal psychotherapy for PTSD after interpersonal trauma.
Directions in Psychiatry, 20, 237-253.
Resick, P., & Calhoun, K., S. (2001). Posttraumatic stress disorder. In D. Barlow (Ed.),
Clinical Handbook of Psychological Disorders (pp. 60-113) New York: Guilford.
Richard, D. C. S., & Lauterbach, D. L. (Eds.) (2007). Handbook of Exposure Therapies.
San Diego: Academic Press.
NCTSN/NCPTSD (National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Centre for
PTSD) (2006). Psychological First Aid: Field operations guide. Retrieved from
from www.ncptsd.va.go on February 4, 2008
NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) (2005). The Management of PTSD in
Adults and Children in Primary and Secondary Care (Vol. 26). Wilshire:
Cromwell Press Ltd.
Solomon, Z., Horesh, D. (2007). Changes in the Criteria of PTSD: Implications from two
longitudinal studies. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77, 182-188.
VA/DoD (Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense) (2004). VA/DoD
Clinical practice guideline for the management of posttraumatic stress, version
1.0. Washington, DC: Veterans Health Administration, Department of Defense.
Violanti, J. M., & Paton, D. (2006). Who gets PTSD? Issues of Posttraumatic Stress
Vulnerability. Thomas Books: Springfield Illinois.
Wilson, J. P., Freidman, M. J., & Lindy, J. D. (Eds.) (2001). Treating psychological
trauma and PTSD. New York: Guilford.