Beyond Words
Learning to Use Role-Play to Treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Keywords:
posttraumatic stress disorder, role-play, archetypes, mental health, health education, psychobiology, biopsychology, exposure therapyAbstract
Scholarly research conducted by former National Institute of Mental Health Director Frank
Ochberg (2006), the American Psychological Association (2003), and Rosenberg et al.
(2001) show that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), especially exposure therapy, is
effective in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on a psychobiological level. Yet
according to studies by Becker, Zayfert, and Anderson (2003) and Cahill, Foa, Hembree,
Marshall, and Nacash (2006), many psychologists and master’s-level clinicians do not
include an exposure therapy component in their treatment of PTSD.
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