Strategie psicoterapiche alternative al debriefing e alla terapia cognitivo-comportamentale basata sull’esposizione al trauma per il trattamento del disturbo post-traumatico da stress.

Introduction. Psychological debriefing uses brief unsystematic exposure and is ineffective for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its related symptoms. Systematic exposure alone and cognitive restructuring alone are each effective. Other approaches too may be useful. Methods. The treatment of three PTSD patients is detailed in which there was no exposure to the main traumatic event. There was exposure to related cues in case 1, exposure to related and other cues followed by Well-Being Therapy (WBT) in case 2, and WBT in case 3. Discussion and Results. The three patients improved enduringly, confirming earlier findings that exposure to the main trauma is not essential for PTSD to improve. Conclusions. Study is needed of therapeutic mechanisms in PTSD, and of the value of WBT in a randomized controlled trial.