Homicidally bereaved individuals may experience symptoms of Complicated Grief (CG) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This Randomized Controlled Trial examined the effectiveness of an 8‐session treatment encompassing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to reduce self‐rated CG and PTSD symptoms in 85 Dutch adult homicidally bereaved men and women.

ABSTRACT

Background: It is assumed that PTSD patients with a history of childhood sexual abuse benefit less from trauma-focused treatment than those without such a history.

Objective: To test whether the presence of a history of childhood sexual abuse has a negative effect on the outcome of intensive trauma-focused PTSD treatment.

Background: Vivid trauma-related intrusions are a hallmark symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and may be involved in its onset. Effective interventions to reduce intrusions and to potentially prevent the onset of subsequent PTSD are scarce. Studies suggest that playing the videogame Tetris, shortly after watching aversive film clips, reduces subsequent intrusions. Other studies have shown that taxing working memory (WM) while retrieving an emotional memory reduces the memory’s vividness and emotionality.

ABSTRACT

Background: Trauma-focused psychotherapies for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been demonstrated to be efficacious, but also have considerable non-response and dropout rates. Intensive treatment may lead to faster symptom reduction, which may contribute to treatment motivation and thereby to reduction of dropout.