The symptoms which indicate PTSD may also vary depending on the nature of the traumatic event which causes the symptoms. Although PTSD is often caused by events which harm the subject directly, it can also occur when an event harms a loved one. The shock one feels when a loved one passes away often triggers avoidance responses such as withdrawal or depressed moods. Certain symptoms of reliving are also common, but involve reliving of events, often fond memories, involving the person instead of the event which caused the death. Such fond memories may cause feelings of longing and deprivation. Arousal is much less common because the event did not harm the individual to trigger flight responses such as nervousness and hyper-vigilance.
Counseling Techniques
The treatment of PTSD implicates the counseling profession because counseling is the primary means through which PTSD is treated. In contrast, adults, who are under more pressure to start functioning normally in society, are often treated for PTSD through anti-anxiety medications which are prescribed for their quick results. Because children and adolescents are still undergoing mental development, it is still possible to retrain their minds to reduce the influence of traumatic events on their everyday functioning.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective approach for treating children and teenagers because they are still developing their mental faculties and habits. One type of CBT is called Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT). In TF-CBT, the subject may talk about his or her memory of the trauma and the beliefs she has developed about the trauma to a therapist.
The therapist will then guide the subject in examining the memories. Through TF-CBT, the subject learns to change thoughts or beliefs about the trauma...
As a result, memories of the traumatic event will not trigger the same types of beliefs and fearful thoughts.
Eye Movement Desensitization of Reprocessing (EMDR) combines cognitive therapy with directed eye movements in order to get the patient to disassociate the traumatic event with their responses.
During EMDR, the client focuses on disturbing memory in multiple brief sets of about 15 -- 30 seconds. Simultaneously, the client focuses on the dual attention stimulus, such as therapist-directed lateral eye movement or alternate hand-tapping.
References
Loeb, J., Stettler, E.M., Gavila, T., Stein, a., & Chinitz, S. (January 01, 2011). The child behavior checklist PTSD scale: screening for PTSD in young children with high exposure to trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24, 4, 430-4.
Kowalik J, Weller J, Venter J, Drachman D (September 2011). "Cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder: a review and meta-analysis." J. Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 42 (3): 405 -- 13.
Shapiro F (2001). EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization of Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press. pp. 472.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001923/
http://www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/ptsd-children-adolescents.asp
Kowalik J, Weller J, Venter J, Drachman D (September 2011). "Cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder: a review and meta-analysis." J. Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 42 (3): 405 -- 13.
Shapiro F (2001). EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization of Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press. pp. 472.
