Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and Substance Use Disorders Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE) is a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy program designed for patients who have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a co-occurring alcohol or drug use disorder. COPE represents an integration of two evidence-based treatments: Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy for PTSD and Relapse Prevention for substance use disorders. COPE is an integrated treatment, meaning that both the PTSD and substance use disorder are addressed concurrently in therapy by the same clinician, and patients can experience substantial reductions in both PTSD symptoms and substance use severity. Patients use the COPE Patient Workbook while their clinician uses the Therapist Guide to deliver treatment. The program is comprised of 12 individual, 60 to 90 minute therapy sessions. The program includes several components: information about how PTSD symptoms and substance use interact with one another; information about the most common reactions to trauma; techniques to help the patient manage cravings and thoughts about using alcohol or drugs; coping skills to help the patient prevent relapse to substances; a breathing retraining relaxation exercise; and in vivo (real life) and imaginal exposures to target the patient's PTSD symptoms.

Discusses such situations as physical abuse, natural disasters, wars, and violence, that can cause stressful responses and describes ways of dealing with these delayed reactions to trauma.

This book is a user friendly discussion of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as it affects individuals and families. PTSD has become better known and more frequently diagnosed, and affects more than just military families. Causes, diagnosis and treatments, including counseling, medication, and alternative therapy, are discussed. The challenges faced by PTSD individuals and their families are addressed and recommendations are included. New to this edition is information regarding Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and the new policies and treatments in use as well as information about women war veterans, who are a newer demographic for combat PTSD.

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.

PTSD is in no way an easy diagnosis for the patient, the provider, or the therapist. It is a diagnosis developed at the border of our capacity to handle extreme stress, a marker diagnosis denoting the limits of our capacity for functioning in the stress of this modern world. For both individuals and society, PTSD marks the limits of our available compassion and our capacity to protect ourselves from the dangers of the environment and other humans. PTSD is often a chronic disease, forming at a place where mind sometimes no longer equals the brain, a point at which individual patient requirements often trump theory and belief. There are treatments for PTSD that work, and many that do not. This book presents evidence, rather than theory, anecdote, or case report. Psychological approaches including prolonged exposure, imagery rehearsal therapy and EMDR have a greater than 75% positive short-term response when used to treat PTSD. Yet these treatments vary markedly and have different, even contradictory underlying theory and objectives for treatment. Medications, rarely indicated as primary therapy, can be used to treat symptoms and address comorbid PTSD diagnoses. Treatment of sleep apnea in the PTSD population produces a positive effect on symptoms and a reduction in morbidity and mortality across the span of life. Complementary treatments offer the many individuals chronically affected by PTSD assistance in coping with symptoms and opportunities to attempt to functionally integrate their experience of trauma.

This is an all-embracing reference that offers analyses and discussions of contemporary issues in the field of PTSD. The book brings together scientific material from leading experts in the field relating to a wide range of important current topics across disciplines. These include the early identification of PTSD and subsequent treatment, to social and behavioral studies, to biochemical, molecular and genetic research. With more than 125 chapters organized in 12 major sections, this is the most complete single resource on PTSD.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extremely debilitating anxiety condition that can occur after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal. Although many know that this mental health issue affects veterans of war, many may not know that it also affects victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, natural disasters, crime, car accidents and accidents in the workplace. No matter the cause of their illness, people with PTSD will often relive their traumatic experience in the form of flashbacks, memories, nightmares, and frightening thoughts. This is especially true when they are exposed to events or objects that remind them of their trauma. Left untreated, PTSD can lead to emotional numbness, insomnia, addiction, anxiety, depression, and even suicide. In The PTSD Workbook, Second Edition, psychologists and trauma experts Mary Beth Williams and Soili Poijula outline techniques and interventions used by PTSD experts from around the world to offer trauma survivors the most effective tools available to conquer their most distressing trauma-related symptoms, whether they are a veteran, a rape survivor, or a crime victim. Based in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the book is extremely accessible and easy-to-use, offering evidence-based therapy at a low cost. This new edition features chapters focusing on veterans with PTSD, the link between cortisol and adrenaline and its role in PTSD and overall mental health, and the mind-body component of PTSD. This book is designed to arm PTSD survivors with the emotional resilience they need to get their lives back together after a traumatic event.

Written by a team of experts in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this workbook offers powerful, symptom-specific skills from a variety of empirically supported cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatments, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and—for the first time—cognitive processing therapy (CPT). PTSD is a debilitating condition that can leave you feeling numb, irritable, on guard, and distant. You may experience flashbacks and traumatic memories, suffer with sleep difficulties and nightmares, and struggle to manage intense emotions, impulses, and the desire to avoid closeness. But there has been rapid growth in the research and treatment of PTSD. This book combines the very best in proven-effective treatments to address specific symptoms, from the least disruptive to the most severe. Presenting tools drawn from a number of approaches and treatment models—such as ACT, DBT, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), exposure treatment, behavioral activation, imagery rehearsal therapy, and a highly effective, twelve-session cognitive processing therapy (CPT) program, The Cognitive Behavioral Coping Skills Workbook for PTSD can help you overcome the most common and most difficult challenges people with PTSD face. This practical guide is loaded with research-based skills from the most effective PTSD treatments available to help you manage your symptoms, reclaim your well-being, and maintain your recovery.

A former sufferer of PTSD, David Kinchin tell his story and those of others. He describes in plain language what it is like to suffer from PTSD and explains all the complications the disorder can include.