Watkins, L. E., Sprang, K. R., & Rothbaum, B. O. (2018). Treating PTSD: A review of evidence-based psychotherapy interventions. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12.
The article, Watkins et al. review different psychotherapy interventions that can be applied in treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among adults. Most patients that experience PTSD tend to have or are undergoing a traumatic life happening (Watkins et al., 2018).Watkins et al. suggest possible therapeutic solutions that psychotherapists apply to PTSD, such as cognitive processing therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, and prolonged exposure. The authors continue to define how each of the therapies aids the trauma-related cases.
According to the authors, the American Psychology Association needs to verify psychotherapy techniques by highlighting the strength, benefit, patient values, and applicability of the psychotherapy techniques (Watkins et al., 2018). The research article is important to my topic as Watkins et al. explain how psychotherapy interventions are applied. Prolonged exposure insists that acquaintance with stressful situations leads to the patient’s development of strength and courage. Cognitive processing therapy suggests that the main of the therapy is to help the patient accommodate the stressful situations without reacting negatively to stress situations (Watkins et al., 2018). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy insists on the restructuring of the behavioral patterns of the patients reducing stress symptoms. The main limitation of the article is that patients tend to drop out of psychotherapy treatment as soon as they start experiencing positive results, thus increasing their chances for trauma. The article forms the basis for future research and offers scientific solutions in dealing with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder cases.
Kintzle, S., Barr, N., Corletto, G., & Castro, C. (2018). Post-traumatic stress disorder in U.S. veterans: The role of social connectedness, Combat experience, and discharge. Healthcare, 6(3), 102.
In this article, Kintzle et al. explain the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on veterans and the methods used to correct the stress situations. According to the authors, combat exposure is a risk factor leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (Kintzle et al., 2018). The transition from military to civilian life causes veterans to experience stressful experiences. Among the methods used by the authors to experiment with the level of PTSD in the veterans was the study of social variables such as discharge status and social correctness among the discharged veterans.
This article is important in understanding the effects of combat experiences on veterans, thus leading to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The results of the article indicate that social connectedness causes stress symptoms among veterans. According to the authors, “combat experiences and non-honorable discharge status were also found to have an indirect effect on PTSD.” (Kintzle et al., 2018). The main limitation of this article is that it only highlights stress symptoms caused by combat exposure. The article is important as it educates the risk of combat exposure in causing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and provides possible techniques that veterans can use to ensure the smooth social transition into civilian life.
Lewis, C., Roberts, N. P., Andrew, M., Starling, E., & Bisson, J. I. (2020). Psychological therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder in adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Psych-traumatology, 11(1), 1729633.
In this article, Lewis et al. define Post-traumatic stress disorder as a mental disorder that develops due to exposure to a series of traumatizing events. The authors use randomized controlled trials as the research methods in researching the level of PTSD. The results show that cognitive behavior therapy supports up to a third of applied measures by psychiatrists to support patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (Lewis et al.,2020). According to the authors, group therapies are best indulged when dealing with patients with a similar trauma focus.
The article is important in understanding the topic as it aids the students in understanding data extraction and synthesis processes when determining PTSD symptoms (Lewis et al., 2020). However, the main limitation of the article is that the study exclude disorders such as substance dependence and depression, which are end effects PTSD. The article is useful in understanding the risk factors associated with PTSD. It highlights possible psychotherapy trials such as control groups that educate medical students especially psychotherapy specialists on the definition of PTSD and educate them about psychotherapy analyses that improve stress management treatment.
The topic of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is important as it aids an individual to understand the common issues in the trauma psychology field. Being a medical student, the study of PTSD in psychology, aids in understanding possible therapies to be applied to remedy traumatic experiences in a Post-traumatic Stress Disorder patient. The study of PTSD also educates possible techniques such as meditation that aids in dealing with stressful situations.