PTSD Treatment: Exposure Therapy
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 • Uncategorized •
Very popular with all kinds of trauma and particularly the military, PTSD Facts For Health defines exposure therapy this way:
Exposure may be done in vivo (in real life) or in imagination. In vivo exposure is more effective than imaginal exposure. While anxiety or other discomfort may get worse in the first few minutes of in vivo exposure, it is important to continue exposure until the discomfort has diminished. Escaping discomfort only reinforces avoidance as a coping tactic, and produces all the limitations associated with avoidance—like avoiding safe places or situations that might be fun, beneficial or essential for a career and a full family life. It also increases the likelihood that the anxiety might spread, first to similar triggers and eventually to triggers that have little or nothing to do with the original anxiety. Examples of exposure in vivo are resuming driving after being in a traumatizing accident or returning to a now-safe site where an assault once occurred.
Exposure in imagination involves the person recounting traumatic memories until they lose their sting. This can be done by saying them aloud repeatedly, writing, reading and rewriting a biography of the events or recording them on a tape and playing them over and over until they are no longer distressing.
For further investigation, some interesting links:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHmXYhS4HQI]
If you’ve experienced imaginal or in vivo exposure therapy leave a comment, share your thoughts so that we all can learn.
(Photo: EOS boy)
Tags: Educating Ourselves, exposure therapy, heal, ptsd, Therapy Options
Loading ...
Coming from a person who has carried a lot of trauma, that sounds like just numbing the pain and desensitizing yourself from it, rather than healing it, or expressing it in a way that helps you realise you are safe. The process is disturbing to me: you just say it or do it, over and over, forcing down the fears and dissociation that is triggered, until you violate your own boundaries enough to give in. No thanks.
Maybe there is more to it. I hope so. Want to explain? Thanks.
There are ways to heal trauma by accepting it happened AND that you’re safe and powerful, with God’s help in meditation. This has really helped me in overcoming traumatic terror reactions, as I was guided to this process by my inner guidance. I hope to develop it some more as a method. I’ll wait till I’ve found healing for myself completely (or mostly) before I do. Reply here if you want info.
@Rachel — I’m not a big fan of Prolonged Exposure Therapy either. The VA, however, sees great results with 70% efficacy. If you’d like to learn more you can Google the term. This was just a brief overview.
I’m so happy to hear that you’re finding your way with self-empowered healing methods. I would love to hear more. When you’re ready to share, please contact me: I would like to invite you to guest post on my PTSD blog in the ‘Survivors Speak’ series.
I’ll wait to hear from you!
Several years ago a group in Maryland did a study on exposure therapy, after having preached it for a number of years. The results of the study were reported by the media, preumably from info in a news release or by speaking with the group who did the study.
What was printed by the media was it was a success and had helped people. Farther down the page they revealed the percentage of people it helped was less than 10%. What was not said was how many people it made the symptoms worse. They did mention the drop out rate impacted the performance of the study.
I attended a seminar for emergency responders this group did nationwide. I had been diagnosed with PTSD and attended the session on Exposure Therapy WITH my psychologist, who worked in LAPD’s first responders unit to officer involved shootings. The seminar was before the research study.
During the seminar it didn’t take long for me to see the dangers of this approach to PTSD. My psych picked up on it as quick as I did, or I did as quick as he did.
In theory, it sounds logical. In practice it has the potential to be extremely dangerous, short term or long term. Dangerous to the patient, and depending on the patient, those around them.
That the military is using this doesn’t surprise me. Their patients are treated like guinea pigs.
I would have liked to have seen the full honest results of that study and seen how many patients committed suicide, and how many had worse symptoms both short term vs long term.
The topic was dropped from the seminars after the study was completed. The military started doing it after the study had been completed.
Research aside, PTSD has the potential for unbridled violence brought about by a level of blind rage equal to the severity of the PTSD. Most psychs spend a lot of time trying to stabilize patients so they can get to addressing the cause. Exposure Therapy can open Pandora’s Box. Too much too fast. To say it’s not for everyone would be better said as it’s only for a few people and exercise extreme caution on who.
I have been taught to take small steps. Sometimes REAL small steps. Exposure Therapy, for me, would be like standing me at the edge of a cliff and walking up behind me and startling me. The exaggerated startle response would have the potential to do what?
What others do is up to them, obviously. My suggestion is tred with extreme caution as it’s a live minefield.
@Jim — Thanks for sharing both your thoughts and the terrific details. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere near PET myself. I prefer the philosophy you embrace: take small steps and be careful.
I believe that our bodies have a driving force to heal and as our lives become more stable and we find healing paths – for me it has been meditation, yoga and body work with a caring, loving support system who are knowledgeable, compassionate and caring we can face the traumas head on. We are facing them every day. Our bodies speak. Our dreams speak so why not engage with them. Last night I had another trauma dream – I don’t like calling them nightmares because neurolinguistically I have decided to befriend them as dreams allowing me to heal on deeper and deeper levels. My mind has created its own exposure therapy and then after I let my body speak and let the terror reign, I head to my yoga mat where I find healing, strength, joy, compassion and empowerment. I just finished my blog post — http://newworldgreetings.blogspot.com/2012/01/proof-is-in-pranyama-poses-and-reflex.html about allowing myself to engage with the traumatic memories as they present themselves in my dreams. It’s hard work but I got so tired of avoidance and shutting down. Life is so vibrant and wonderful when we realize we are stronger than our trauma!