GROUP THERAPY TREATMENT AND PTSD IN THE 21 ST CENTURY Eric Cox

WHY GROUP THERAPY?  Medications alone are not always effective in treatment and can cause unwanted side effects.  Being around others with similar experiences and struggles can be beneficial in recovery.

TYPES OF GROUP THERAPY  Cognitive Behavior Therapy  Group Music Therapy  Interpersonal Therapy  Group Based Exposure Therapy

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOR THERAPY  Study based on 496 veterans from Australian Military force.  Incorporated many techniques  Psychoeducational  Relaxation  Distraction Techniques  Education on:  Survivor Guilt  Addictive Behaviors, Medication  Many patients who completed the study saw improvements in their quality of life.

GROUP MUSIC THERAPY  Took a different approach to PTSD treatment  Listening and playing of music\instruments  Helpful things included:  Meeting people  Relaxation and Relief  Not helpful:  Too much noise  Dependent upon the group  Overall no controlled trials had been done to see if music could be truly effective.  Patients did seem to be calmer and less agitated

INTERPERSONAL THERAPY(IPT)  IPT had been tested because exposure therapy had remission rates far too high of 40-45%.  40 patients admitted  IPT administered by 4 trained therapists to help:  Reduce isolation  Improve trust in others, increase ability to express affect.  Symptoms dropped from a severe case to just a mild form.

GROUP BASED EXPOSURE THERAPY  92% of veteran patients had already been treated once and 37% had been treated 2 times before, none of which had been effective.  Three key phases:  didactic training/group building (stress management, trust building)  exposure therapy ( Hours of listening to trauma presentations)  grief/guilt and relapse prevention  U.S. department of Veteran Affairs administered treatment as they would even if there was no ongoing study.  81% of patients who had valid scores saw decreases of at least 10 points on the CAPS test scores.

CHALLENGES AND QUESTIONS  Are these forms effective on their own?  Or are they better when medication is being used as well?  Completion of the program is a challenge because many participants do not complete these programs.