Evidence-Based Psychotherapies for Adults with PTSD

This chapter provides an overview of evidence-based psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults. It defines these psychotherapies as those that received the strongest possible recommendation in any of the current clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of PTSD. These treatments include trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapies (which are further categorized as primarily exposure, primarily cognitive, or mixed cognitive-exposure) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. For each approach, the chapter offers a review of the theoretical underpinnings, describes key techniques, and summarizes the existing empirical support. It also briefly discusses efforts to enhance existing evidence-based psychotherapies and to evaluate novel, emerging psychotherapies targeting symptoms of PTSD.