Animals have a long history of inclusion in psychiatric treatment. There has been a recent growth in the empirical study of this practice, known as Animal-Assisted Intervention (AAI). We conducted a systematic review of the empirical literature on AAI for trauma, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Ten studies qualified for inclusion, including six peer-reviewed journal articles and four unpublished theses. Participants were predominantly survivors of child abuse, in addition to military veterans. The presentation of AAI was highly variable across the studies.

High levels of trauma-related psychological distress have been documented among ethnically diverse refugees. As the number of refugees worldwide continues to grow, determining the efficacy of established methods of trauma-focused therapy for this population is crucial.

Aims and method To examine treatment response in traumatised refugees, we compared routine outcome monitoring data (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire) of two refugee populations with those of individuals experiencing profession-related trauma who were treated at a specialised psychotrauma institute.

Brief eclectic psychotherapy for PTSD (BEPP), developed during the 1980s and 1990s of the last century, has proven to be as effective as other trauma-focused treatments (Gersons et al. 2000; Lindauer et al. 2005; Bradley et al. 2005; NICE 2005; Bisson et al. 2013; Schnyder et al. 2011). What makes BEPP special is that it is a comprehensive treatment especially developed for PTSD in which effective elements from different psychotherapy schools have been integrated into a logical sequence.