From a humanistic and existential perspective, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be understood as a normal response to a threatening existential event. The humanistic-existential approach to understanding and treating PTSD also places particular emphasis on the meaning of the traumatic experience and on the awareness of the existential part of the self. Such an understanding conveys to a…
Group Intervention for Chronic Depression and PTSD
Group Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (Group-CBASP): Adaptation to a Group Modality for the Treatment of Chronic Depression
Emotional and Motivational Processes in Bipolar Disorder: A Neural Network Perspective
We propose a model to account for the post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms of disinhibition, hyperarousal, and attention bias. We review the background literature which is the foundation on which our model rests, present key results of our ongoing research, and suggest testable hypotheses for further research. Our laboratory is in a Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, where we beg…
Depression, Vascular Conditions and Chronicity
In line with the theoretical elaboration of countertransference in the trauma clinic, this article addresses the therapist’s relationship to the strangeness of the trauma, as well as his/her interaction with the cultural difference of the other, who is in this case, the traumatized patient. Thirty-one therapists were interviewed about their subjective experiences, using the methodology of int…
Co-Occurring Chronic Depression and Alcohol Dependence: A Novel Treatment Approach
Childhood traumatic experiences are known to have strong and durable effects on physical, mental and reproductive health. One of the most studied consequences of childhood trauma is the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study aims to investigate in a community sample of Italian female students: (1) the prevalence of PTSD; (2) the association between reported childhood traumatic…
Despite decades of prevention campaigns and research, childhood interpersonal trauma (i.e., psychological, physical and sexual abuse, psychological and physical neglect, witnessing interparental violence) remains an endemic problem with longstanding and deleterious negative effects on adult psycho-relational functioning. This chapter aims to present a comprehensive literature review of the repe…