Despite the clinical and social impact of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there are few controlled studies investigating its treatment. In this investigation, the effectiveness of two psychotherapeutic interventions for PTSD were compared using a randomized controlled outcome group design. Thirty five combat veterans diagnosed with combat-related PTSD were treated with either (a) 12 sessions of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, EMDR (n = 10), (b) 12 sessions of biofeedback-assisted relaxation (n = 13), or (c) routine clinical care, serving as a control (n = 12). Compared with the other conditions, significant treatment effects in the EMDR condition were obtained at posttreatment on a number of self-report, psychometric, and standardized interview measures. Relative to the other treatment group, these effects were generally maintained at 3-month follow-up. Psychophysiological measures reflected an apparent habituation effect from pretreatment to posttreatment but were not differentially affected by treatment condition.
Four Vietnam veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder were treated with 12 sessions of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), targeting their combat memories. An extensive multimodal assessment battery showed very substantial clinical improvement for three of the veterans along a number of psychological dimensions that characterize the disorder, but not along several physiological parameters. A fourth veteran showed only very modest changes. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of several issues, including numbers of treatment sessions and differential effects of treatment on
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