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Exposure Therapy vs. Cognitive Restructuring in Preventing PTSD
John Gever, MedPage Today, reports that a recent study shows that exposure therapy is better than cognitive restructuring when it comes to preventing PTSD. The study consisted of 90 patients who met the criteria for acute stress disorder – and had not been a victim of sexual assault, the 90 patients were then divided up into three groups, one group received exposure therapy, another received cognitive restructuring and the 3rd group was placed on a waiting list. According to the article:
only 37% of patients who began prolonged-exposure therapy shortly after a traumatic event had developed PTSD six months later, compared with 63% of those treated with cognitive restructuring (P=0.05), reported Richard A. Bryant, Ph.D., of the University of New South Wales, and colleagues in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.
Gever shares that 47% of individual’s treated using exposure therapy had full remission of acute stress disorder symptoms.
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