Mirjam J A Schoutrop | PubMed Health

PubMed2003

Testimony therapy: treatment method for traumatized victims of organized violence.

Former political prisoners in Chile gave testimony of their traumatic experiences, which resulted in diminishing their posttraumatic symptoms. Based on this experience, testimony therapy has been developed and used in treatment of traumatized victims of war or other organized violence. This short-term therapy, as it applied in the treatment of traumatized asylum seekers and refugees in Centrum '45/De Vonk in the Netherlands, is described in this article. The therapy consists of 12 sessions in which patients tell their life stories, including the traumatic experiences. The narrative is reflected in a written document that, for example, can be read to family and friends, or be sent to a historical archive. This article discusses the preliminary research data on the effects of testimony therapy. Finally, hypotheses on the working mechanisms of testimony therapy are offered.

Chile↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Structured writing and processing major stressful events: a controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic events may result in a variety of physical and psychological health problems. Self-confrontation with traumatic memories, by putting painful emotions and thoughts into (verbal) words, is associated with psychophysiological benefits. Self-confrontation may be invoked during sessions and enhanced by structural assignments, which the client carries out between the sessions. In this context, writing assignments could be a useful tool in reprocessing traumatic events. The effects of writing assignments have been demonstrated in several case studies and in a number of experimental studies. However, the experimental studies have several limitations, for example the effects of writing on the impact of trauma are not examined. Furthermore, the psychological mechanisms that mediate the effects of trauma on health are less clear. These two issues are the main issues of the current study. METHODS: A group of 26 participants were instructed to write about their negative events during five 45-min sessions over a period of 2 weeks. They were compared at pre-treatment, post-treatment and at 6-week follow-up to a waiting-list control group (n = 22). RESULTS: The trauma-writing groups experienced fewer intrusions and showed less avoidance behavior from pre-treatment to follow-up, whereas the waiting-list control group did not change significantly. Similar results were found on depressive symptoms. No effects on mood measures were found. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Adolescent↗