Manhattan Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Schedule an appointment
  • Home
  • Teletherapy
  • Affiliated Therapists
  • Problems Treated
    • Anxiety
    • Panic Attacks
    • Insomnia
    • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
    • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
      • POCD: Pedophilic OCD
      • HOCD – “Gay OCD”
      • Harm OCD
      • Hit and Run OCD
      • Existential OCD
    • Depression
    • Social Anxiety
    • Trichotillomania
    • Dermatillomania (Skin Picking)
  • Resources
    • What is CBT?
    • How to Get Started with CBT
    • What Is Mindfulness?
    • Free PTSD evaluations for frontline medical workers
    • Worksheets
    • Links
  • Training
    • The MCCBT externship
    • The MCCBT Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Blog
  • Contact us
Home » Blog » Anxiety » PTSD » What Is the Best Choice for PTSD Treatment?

What Is the Best Choice for PTSD Treatment?

January 28, 2018 by Dr. Paul Greene

There are a lot of options out there for PTSD treatment. Do any of them really work? Which one is the best?

Weighing ptsd treatment optoins

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious condition that can set in following a traumatic event (or series of events).  Many different kind of events can cause PTSD. These include assaults, motor vehicle accidents, combat experiences, rape, abuse, some medical events, and several other situations. These events do not always cause PTSD. When they do, it is smart to seek treatment. 

The reason for this is that certain types of therapy can be very effective for PTSD, and can cause significant improvements in quality of life.  Very recently, the American Psychological Association assembled a guideline for PTSD treatment options. This guideline is based on extensive reviews of high quality research. (Learn more about why research is important for psychotherapy.) The four treatment options that were “strongly recommended” were:

  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
  • Cognitive Processing Therapy
  • Cognitive Therapy
  • Prolonged Exposure

These four treatments have a lot in common, and will be discussed below.  But first, here are the PTSD treatment options that were only “conditionally” recommended:

  • Eye Movement Desensitization Retraining (EMDR)
  • Medications
  • Narrative Exposure Therapy
  • Brief Eclectic Therapy

One important fact to take away from this list is that medications alone are generally not the best PTSD treatment option. Psychotherapy is typically a necessary part of the solution for people suffering from PTSD.  Further, the best treatment doesn’t merely involve “finding someone to talk to,” as many people seek to do when they need a therapist.  It involves seeking out one of the specific types of therapies listed above.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the first of the “strongly recommended” treatments, is becoming widely available. This type of therapy involves examining and changing some of the thoughts and actions that inadvertently contribute to PTSD.  A skilled CBT therapist works collaboratively with patients using skills-building exercises and homework assignments to help them start to change their thinking about the traumatic event(s) and to change their reactions to reminders of the traumatic event(s). Finding the right therapist for a given problem can be a real challenge. To find someone with good training in CBT we recommend the “find-a-therapist” feature at www.abct.org.

Cognitive Processing Therapy

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a therapy that helps people change their reactions to a traumatic event in specific ways. It is a specialized version of cognitive therapy, described below.  CPT is especially useful for people who, to some extent, blame themselves for the traumatic event.  This self-blame is not uncommon in survivors of abuse or sexual assault in particular. Even for those without much self-blame, this type of therapy can be very effective. Often, traumatic events change the way we think about the world in an unhealthy way. CPT can help us make our thinking healthy again.

PTSD treatment options - woman mulling choices.

Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive Therapy (CT) is a form of therapy quite similar to CBT.  It emphasizes techniques that help change thinking patterns that contribute to anxiety, depression, anger, and other difficulties. The therapy is based on the premise that our thoughts affect our mood and our behavior. By practicing thinking differently, we can reduce depression, anxiety, and other problems.

Prolonged Exposure

Prolonged Exposure (PE) is a type of behavior therapy that involves reducing avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event(s). It is the longest-established PTSD treatment option. This is accomplished by doing exposure exercises.  Exposure exercises for PTSD can involve facing uncomfortable reminders of a traumatic event. As an example, consider someone who was in a serious car accident and stopped driving thereafter.  He or she might spend some time sitting in the car as an exposure exercise.  This exercise would be repeated until it no longer produced any anxiety.  The therapist would then introduce a slightly more challenging exercise.  This is repeated until PTSD symptoms have reduced so significantly that the memory no longer causes undue anxiety or distress.  PE has been used successfully to treat combat veterans, cancer survivors, victims of assault, car accident survivors, refugees, and others. It is an established and effective means to treat PTSD.

Treatment Options for PTSD: Summary

We are fortunate that organizations like the APA, AMA, NICE (in the UK) and others are able to thoroughly examine and summarize existing research findings to create guidelines for providers and patients.  The just-published APA guidelines for PTSD treatment options are a great example.  They suggest that certain therapies (not medications) should be a first-line treatment for PTSD.  We encourage you to seek out these therapies if at all possible; if you are having trouble finding these therapies in your area, please feel free to check the find-a-therapist directory from ABCT or to contact us at info@manhattanCBT.com.

Related posts from manhattanCBT.com:

Filed Under: Anxiety, Cognitive-behavioral therapy, PTSD

Manhattan Center for CBT

Search

Key resources

  • Anxiety: Everything you need to know
  • Mindfulness -- A beginner's guide
  • A comprehensive guide to PTSD
  • How to Find a Therapist
  • OCD Overview
  • Insomnia resource page
  • Panic Attacks -- Get informed
  • Social Anxiety guide
  • Trichotillomania information
  • Depression -- Ultimate guide
  • Stay up to date with ManhattanCBT

    Enter your email to subscribe and receive new posts via email.

    Categories

    • Addiction
    • American mental healthcare
    • Anxiety
    • Cancer
    • Career
    • Cognitive-behavioral therapy
    • Coronavirus
    • DBT
    • Depression
    • Eating disorders
    • Evidence-based treatment
    • Featured
    • Insomnia
    • Kids and teens
    • Mindfulness and meditation
    • OCD
    • Panic attacks
    • PTSD
    • Social Anxiety

    Affiliated Therapist Writings

    • Amoha Bajaj-Mahajan, Ph.D.
      • Shy and Dating? Helpful Tips from a Psychologist
      • How to Understand and Overcome Your Anxiety at Work
    • Anna Womack, Ph.D.
      • Self-Care Tips for the Coronavirus Outbreak
      • Unhappy at Work? 3 Options for Job Satisfaction
    • Carly Geller, Psy.D.
      • Cognitive Distortions and What to Do About Them
      • Why You Have Intense Emotions, and How to Cope
    • Rachel Chang, Psy.D.
      • How to Be Awesome at Self-Soothing and Self-Care
      • Accepting Things As They Are: Why and How to Do It
    • Jennifer Chen, Psy.D.
      • Mindfulness of Emotions: How Can It Help You?
      • How to Survive Holiday Stress
    • Justin Arocho, Ph.D.
      • What Is Panic Disorder With and Without Agoraphobia?
      • How to Deal With the Torment of Relationship Obsessions
    • Kristen Piering, Psy.D.
      • Coronavirus: Tips for Parents During Social Distancing
      • “Will I Get Sick Too?” — Talking to Your Children and Teens about Coronavirus
    • Melissa Aiello, Ph.D.
      • Why Do I Hate My Job?
      • How to Overcome the Vicious Cycle of Depression and Avoidance
    • Dr. Paul Greene
      • Is PTSD Permanent? It Doesn’t Have To Be
      • Integrative Therapies: Are They Good Psychotherapy Options?

    Contact Information

    Manhattan Center for
    Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
    276 Fifth Avenue, Suite #905
    New York, NY 10001 (map)
    1-646-863-4225
    https://manhattancbt.com

    Copyright © 2020 Manhattan Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy/Psychology, PLLC, d.b.a. the Manhattan Center for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy & Paul B. Greene, Ph.D. except where otherwise noted.

    Connect With Us

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Phone
    • RSS
    • Twitter

    Recent Tweets

    Tweets by @anxietyocd

    Recent Posts

    • What Is Panic Disorder With and Without Agoraphobia?
    • Is PTSD Permanent? It Doesn’t Have To Be
    • Integrative Therapies: Are They Good Psychotherapy Options?
    • Avoidance: There’s No Escaping Its Importance to Anxiety
    • How to Handle a Fear of Driving
    • OCD and Depression: How Are They Connected?
    • OCD
    • Anxiety
    • Depression
    • Social Anxiety
    • Insomnia
    • Trichotillomania
    • Mindfulness
    • Panic Attacks