MECHANISMS OF PTSD RECOVERY IN TRAUMA-FOCUSED THERAPIES

Abstract

The process of recovery from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in trauma-focused therapies employs a combination of psychological, neurobiological, and emotional mechanisms which are interrelated and help the affected people to process the traumatic events in a more adaptive way. The main feature of these therapies is the controlled exposure to the trauma-related memories, which gradually diminishes the fear through extinction learning and desensitization. Among the recovery methods, cognitive restructuring plays a significant role as it by positing the patient to scrutinize and dismantle the maladaptive beliefs around safety, control, and self-blame thus reinstating a coherent and balanced appraisal of the traumatic event. The skills of emotion regulation are first of all, to increase one's ability to endure e.g. distress and to decrease one's tendency to turn away from e.g. the traumatic material and those who can do so are the ones who will be able to relate to the case without getting overpowered by the emotions. From the perspective of the brain, the trauma-focused treatments are linked to the calming of the amygdala's overactivity, the strengthened ability of the prefrontal cortex to regulate the amygdala, and the enhanced interaction between the brain regions involved in memory, mainly the hippocampus.