Noteboom The Law Firm

VA Offers Two Recommended Forms of PTSD Therapy

November 11, 2010 - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become a much more popular topic in the media over the last couple of years because of the unfortunately high amount of soldiers and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from PTSD. There are as many different ways of treating PTSD as there are veterans suffering from it.

PTSD falls under the category of being an anxiety disorder. It usually develops in people after they witness or experience events perceived as severely traumatic. Standard PTSD diagnostic criteria state the person's response must be:

• "Intense fear, helplessness, or horror"; to
• An event involving "actual or threatened death or serious injury."

There is no literal cure for PTSD, because the memory of the event causing the trauma cannot be undone. For those people suffering from PTSD, therapy usually helps them manage their symptoms so they can live happy and productive lives.

The goal of therapy is to diminish the damage the event caused to the person's psyche. Everybody is going to respond differently to different types of therapy. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) National Center for PTSD, the most helpful type of PTSD therapy is cognitive-behavior counseling. 

Because of their proven effectiveness, the VA has started training programs across the country focusing on cognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure therapy. Cognitive processing therapy consists of 12 sessions between the veteran and the therapist where veterans are taught how to deal with the invasive and stressful thoughts plaguing them. Prolonged exposure therapy consists of 8-15 sessions where veterans are introduced to whatever feelings they avoid due to the stress they induce.  

There are many diverse treatment options available to veterans seeking help for PTSD. The VA has found these two approaches the most effective, which is why they are being rolled out on a national scale.