Trauma

Effective Therapies for PTSD There are many, well-established treatments for PTSD in children and adolescents. They include:
•Individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
•Individual CBT with parent involvement
•Group CBT

https://effectivechildtherapy.org/concerns-symptoms-disorders/disorders/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/

Trauma

What Works

• Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
• Treatment that involves reducing negative emotional and behavioral responses related to trauma, by providing psychoeducation on trauma, addressing distorted beliefs and attributes related to trauma, and introducing relaxation and stress management techniques.

What Seems to Work

• School-Based Group Cognitive
• Similar components to TF-CBT, but in a group, school-based format.
• Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Individualized to meet the specific concerns and needs of each unique trauma survivor with goal of building coping skills.
• Psychodynamic Trauma-focused Psychotherapies
• Not Adequately Tested

 

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Uses eye movements, sounds, or pulsations to stimulate the brain. Can create changes in the brain that help the client overcome symptoms.
• Child-centered Play Therapy*
• Therapy that uses child-centered play to encourage expression of feelings and healing.
• Psychological Debriefing
• An approach in which youth talk about the facts of the trauma (and associated thoughts and feelings) and then are encouraged to reenter into the present.

 

Pharmacological Treatments

Treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), betablockers or alpha agonsists.

 

What Does Not Work

• Restrictive rebirthing or holding techniques
• Restrictive rebirthing or holding techniques may forcibly bind, restrict, coerce, or withhold food or water from children and have resulted in some cases of death and are not recommended.
• Pharmacological Treatments
• Treatment with Periactin/Cyproheptadine (an antihistamine)