Two exposure therapists take a hike in the woods in Alaska... It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right? Bad joke as it might be, my intention is to use this hiking event to demonstrate how situational factors, purposely manipulated or accidentally occurring, can greatly impact the distress experienced during an in vivo exposure exercise.
CDP, together with National Center for PTSD, recently completed the first of three training events in Prolonged Exposure (PE) with community providers who treat Veterans with PTSD as part of a pilot project funded by the National Center for PTSD. We interviewed Dr. Sonya Norman, director of the VA’s PTSD Consultation Program and Mr. Todd McKee, program manager, who are leading this project.
In working with Psychology Interns, Psychiatry Residents, Social Workers, and all other types of mental health providers from the most experienced to least, I’ve found that people often forget the basis of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Prolonged Exposure (PE). CPT is a form of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and PE is a form of Exposure Therapy. They are not unique theories.
In late 2017, the Department of Veterans Affairs in conjunction with the Department of Defense published an update to their practice guidelines for the management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This two-part blog will highlight the major recommendations of the new practice guideline: part 1 will focus on recommendations for screening and assessment and part 2 will focus on treatment considerations. Although we hope that these blogs help to clarify the major elements of the new guideline, we strongly suggest that all clinicians review the guideline for themselves. The full guideline as well as the Clinician Summary and Pocket Guide can all be viewed and downloaded in PDF format here.
I like to be helpful. It’s one of the reasons I became a psychologist. You could say it’s my mission. Sometimes I get a phone call or an email from a distant relation, a friend, an acquaintance, or even a resourceful stranger who found my name on a website or blog. These people often have questions about psychotherapy.