Positive side effects in trauma-focusing PTSD treatment: Reduction of attendant symptoms and enhancement of affective and structural regulation

Trauma-focusing treatments such as EMDR are highly effective in reducing the core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Article Abstract

“Objective: Trauma-focusing treatments such as eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) are highly effective in reducing the core symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), for example, intrusive memories and flashbacks, hyperarousal, and avoidance. Additionally, suffering from PTSD is often accompanied by a broader set of mental comorbidities and complaints such as depression, anxiety disorders or somatization, and disturbed self-regulation abilities. According to the Adaptive Information Processing model (Shapiro, 2001), the processing of pathogenic memories can help not only to reduce the PTSD symptoms but also accompanying complaints additionally.

Method: In an eye movement desensitization and reprocessing treatment study of 116 patients suffering from PTSD, we targeted the course of additional symptoms and structural skills using the Symptom Checklist-90 SCL-90, Beck Depression Inventory, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, and Hannover Selbstregulationsinventar in a pre-post design.

Results: The results showed that apart from alleviating the PTSD symptoms, exposure-based treatment of pathogenic memories led to a significant decrease in accompanying symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and somatization. Furthermore, patients improved their structural abilities with regard to emotional perception and differentiation, controlling impulses, tolerating frustration, and regulating self-esteem.

Conclusion: PTSD core symptoms and comorbid complaints are closely interlinked and can be seen as a traumatic-stress cluster, which is accompanied by significant impairments in self- and emotion regulation. Therefore, treatment concepts should explicitly foster emotional processing and structural abilities to target the posttraumatic stress responses entirely.”

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Stingl, M., Hanewald, B., Kruse, J., & Sack, M. (2020). Positive side effects in trauma-focusing PTSD treatment: Reduction of attendant symptoms and enhancement of affective and structural regulation. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, online. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000700