The PTSD Solution


Book Description

A new approach to understanding PTSD as a form of grief rather than a medical disorder Have you ever felt that something essential was missing from your post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment options? If you suffer from PTSD, you know the problem is complex, but what you probably don't know—and what the medical establishment isn't telling you—is that post-traumatic stress is not fundamentally a medical disorder but rather a form of grief. Your body, mind, and soul experienced tremendous loss, and to fully integrate the many losses into your ongoing life, you must explore and express your necessary grief. In other words, you must mourn. This groundbreaking book reveals a new approach to understanding PTSD and its debilitating symptoms. With compassion and insight, it affirms the nature and severity of your experience while providing you with a step-by-step plan to transcend it. A full review of traditional medical treatments for PTSD are presented and included as part of the healing plan. Whether your PTSD is severe or more subtle, whether your traumatic experience was recent or in the distant past, this book unlocks the secret that will finally allow you to once again live and love fully.




Reframing PTSD as Traumatic Grief


Book Description

An estimated eight percent of Americans are thought to be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder at any given time. Many are victims of or witnesses to violence. Others have been neglected of abused. Some have experienced a traumatic accident or natural disaster. Still others have experienced the sudden and perhaps violent death of someone they love. No matter the cause, PTSD results in symptoms of acute stress, including anxiety, persistent thoughts or flashbacks, and a host of other physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual challenges. In this guide for counselors and caregivers, Dr. Alan Wolfelt reframes PTSD as a form of grief. Helping PTSD sufferers mourn their unacknowledged and “carried” grief over the traumatic events that caused their symptoms is the key to helping them heal. Rather than seeking to quickly treat away symptoms of PTSD, caregivers who follow Dr. Wolfelt's “companioning” philosophy will instead see the natural and necessary PTSD symptoms as indications that the sufferer needs additional support and encouragement to express himself. This holistic new approach acknowledges clinical PTSD treatments as part of the solution while emphasizing that authentic mourning is the primary and most essential healer.




Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD


Book Description

The culmination of more than 25 years of clinical work and research, this is the authoritative presentation of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Written by the treatment's developers, the book includes session-by-session guidelines for implementation, complete with extensive sample dialogues and 40 reproducible client handouts. It explains the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of CPT and discusses how to adapt the approach for specific populations, such as combat veterans, sexual assault survivors, and culturally diverse clients. The large-size format facilitates photocopying and day-to-day use. Purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. CPT is endorsed by the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, and the U.K. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a best practice for the treatment of PTSD.




PTSD Breakthrough


Book Description

Praise for The PTSD Breakthrough "Dr. Lawlis has done it again! His latest book offers new hope for PTSD sufferers and their families with approaches that can be used at home where the real problems occur and persist. There is a great deal of insight, strategy, and inspiration for anyone who is dealing with these horrific challenges toward the satisfied life they deserve. A must-read for every member of a family touched by PTSD." Dr. Phil McGraw "Dr. Frank Lawlis, one of the most gifted and prolific contributors in modern psychology, delivers in The PTSD Breakthrough a highly readable, scientifically grounded, balanced approach to PTSD, zeroing in on the damaging effects of trauma to the brain psyche, and spirit." John Chibran, PhD, ThD, Harvard Medical School, and the author of What's Love Got to Do with It: Talking with Your Kids About Sex "As a nurse educator, coach, author, and consultant, Dr. Frank Lawlis's timely book on PTSD truly addresses the deep-rooted problem beneath the symptoms and syndrome. His innovative and practical guidelines allow the individual to once again achieve high-level wellness with new penetrating insights and compassion for self in the healing journey." Barbara Dossey, PhD, RN; International Co-Director, Nightingale Initiative for Global Health; Co-Director, International Nurse Coach Association; Author of Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice (5th ed.) and Florence Nightingale: Mystic, Visionary, Healer "Much is being written about post-traumatic stress disorder. But if you a book that looks at the disorder from a new perspective, and explains it and its treatment in a way that both patient and practitioner can understand, this is the book for you." John Roitzsch, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina, VA Medical Center




Post Traumatic Success: Positive Psychology & Solution-Focused Strategies to Help Clients Survive & Thrive


Book Description

Resiliency-focused approaches to managing trauma. This is a book to help clients to transform what happened to them to make them better instead of bitter. The first book on trauma to combine the theory and practice of positive psychology and solution-focused brief therapy with traditional approaches, this book veers away from a focus on pathology (what is wrong with clients and how to repair the worst) to a focus on what is right with them (and how to create the best)—that is, from post traumatic stress to post traumatic success. The three R’s of post traumatic success are: Recovery, Resilience and enRichment (post traumatic growth) - concepts depicted by the bamboo plant on the book’s cover. Trauma professionals will learn what it takes to help more survivors benefit more substantively from therapy and how to support their clients in developing longer-term resilience. By practicing the skills in this book, they can increase their clients’ self-efficacy and self-esteem, and make psychotherapy shorter in time, more cost effective and more lighthearted for their clients and themselves. Written for all professionals and students working with trauma survivors (both adults and children) and their families and friends, it equips readers with practical direction for adopting a more positive approach and expanding their range of available techniques. Over a hundred exercises, thirty-three cases, and forty stories are presented to illustrate and help incorporate this new approach into practice. It’s about time to turn the tide on treating trauma by shifting the focus from reducing distress and merely surviving to building success and positively thriving.




At War with PTSD


Book Description

Recounts a psychiatrist's experiences in Iraq of treating soldiers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder with a computer simulation of combat, discussing the advantages and limitations of the treatment.




Trauma- and Stressor-related Disorders


Book Description

Trauma, stress, and disasters are impacting our world. The scientific advances presented address the burden of disease of trauma- and stressor-related disorders. This book is about their genetic, neurochemical, developmental, and psychological foundations, epidemiology, and prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment. It presents evidence-based psychotherapeutic, psychopharmacological, public health, and policy interventions.




Experiential Treatment For PTSD


Book Description

"This book introduces something substantially new...original, clinically valid and well-thought out ideas which have been extensively ëtestedí in workshops conducted internationally over the last decade...a great book!" Adam Blatner, MD The author presents the Therapeutic Spiral Model (TSM), a systematic modification of Psychodrama, for therapists working with people who are suffering from severe trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder. A step-by-step guide for using experiential methods safely, the author first explains the theoretical foundations of TSM, research and theories on trauma, and experiential psychotherapy as a basis for understanding its development. Throughout, clinical action structures and advanced intervention modules for using experiential methods are presented. Each chapter contains active vignettes and case examples to demonstrate the process and progress of the spiral technique.




Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Art Therapy


Book Description

This book focusses on art therapy as a treatment of PTSD in both theory and practice. It includes an in-depth look at what PTSD is, how it develops, and how art therapists should approach and treat it, with a focus on furthering social justice. The chapters cover a wide variety of contexts, including adults at a rape crisis centre, veterans, children in group homes and patients at substance use facilities. The second section of the book includes invaluable practical strategies and interventions based on the author's decades of experience in the field. It also discusses more complex concepts, including the impact of avoidance in maintaining symptoms of PTSD, and considers how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can guide art therapy interventions.




The Body Keeps the Score


Book Description

Originally published by Viking Penguin, 2014.