The bumpy road of trauma-focused treatment: Posttraumatic stress disorder symptom exacerbation in people with psychosis
Publication year
2023Author(s)
Number of pages
11 p.
Source
Journal of Traumatic Stress, 36, 2, (2023), pp. 299-309ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor
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Organization
SW OZ BSI KLP
Journal title
Journal of Traumatic Stress
Volume
vol. 36
Issue
iss. 2
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 299
Page end
p. 309
Subject
Experimental Psychopathology and TreatmentAbstract
Concern for symptom exacerbation and treatment drop-out is an important barrier to the implementation of trauma-focused therapy (TFT), especially in people with a psychotic disorder. This study, which was part of a multicenter randomized controlled trial, investigated posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom exacerbation during eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) therapy and prolonged exposure (PE) in a sample of 99 participants with PTSD and psychosis. Symptom exacerbations during the first four sessions (early exacerbation) and between-session exacerbations over the course of therapy were monitored using the PTSD Symptom Scale–Self Report. Analyses of covariance and chi-square tests were conducted to investigate exacerbation rates and their associations with treatment response and drop-out. Both early exacerbation and between-session exacerbation were relatively common (32.3% and 46.5%, respectively) but were unrelated to poor treatment response or an increased likelihood of treatment drop-out. Both clinicians and patients need to be aware that symptom exacerbation during TFT is common and not related to poor outcomes. Symptom exacerbation can be part of the therapeutic process, should be acknowledged and guided, and should not be a barrier to the implementation of TFT in people with psychosis.
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Academic publications [244228]
- Electronic publications [131195]
- Faculty of Social Sciences [30034]
- Open Access publications [105220]
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