Findings from a New Study on Childhood Trauma

I wanted to share an article I came across yesterday on Jama Network and which was published a few months ago in The British Journal of Psychiatry, one of the leading journals in the field, for those excited and intrigued by it and the hypothesis it puts forward.  I believe this is an important study for the treatment of patients with childhood trauma.

The JAMA briefing titled "TSSB tedavisi için Çocukluk Çağı Travmalarının ayrıntılarını  ile detaylı bir şekilde temas etmek şart değildir" (Engaging in Detail with Childhood Trauma Is Not Essential for PTSD Treatment) discusses the article "Çocukluk travması sonrası travma sonrası stres bozukluğu olan yetişkinler için tedavi olarak Imagery rescripting ve EMDR: randomize klinik çalışma" (Imagery Rescripting and EMDR as Treatment for Adults with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from Childhood Trauma: A Randomized Clinical Trial).

 

EMDR is a psychotherapy based on adaptive information processing theory that uses bilateral stimulation within an eight-phase protocol. In imagery rescripting, a defined protocol is used to work imaginatively with the course and outcome of an event, creating an alternative positive outcome that addresses the patient's core needs.

 

In this randomized controlled trial, two treatments that do not require prolonged recall of traumatic memories were found to be equally effective for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from childhood experiences.

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I believe this study, like previous studies, emphasizes the importance of trauma-focused approaches in PTSD. We can say that the findings deserve attention in terms of the methodology, the research team, and the journal in which they were published. Although imagery rescripting is a technique specifically defined within schema therapy, it shares many similarities with protocols actively used in numerous approaches, including cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR therapy. With this approach, patients imagine a different outcome to their trauma that aligns more closely with their emotional needs. The study's 155 participants, with a mean age of 39, were randomly assigned to receive 12 ninety-minute sessions of either imagery rescripting (ImR) or eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), twice a week. Both treatments significantly reduced PTSD symptoms, depression, shame, guilt, and hostility after 8 weeks. The improvements were shown to last for 1 year. I also believe it is very important that improvement continues after treatment ends. Of course, there is still a need for many more rigorous psychotherapy studies that can rule out the numerous confounding factors associated with treatment delivery...

However, following the mouse study showing a reduction in traumatic stress symptoms when bilateral stimulation was paired with a trigger in an EMDR-related procedure, I believe this study also provides important information about both the short- and long-term effects of treatments involving less exposure to trauma. Of course, I think an important distinction of this study is that it also demonstrated effects of the schema therapy approach similar to those of EMDR.