Van der Kolk transforms the understanding of traumatic stress, revealing how it literally rearranges the brain’s wiring—specifically areas dedicated to pleasure, engagement, control, and trust. He shows how these areas can be reactivated through innovative treatments including neurofeedback, mindfulness techniques, play, yoga, and other therapies.

In this article, we report on a pilot study of Strength at Home-Couples (SAH-C), a 10-session cognitive-behavioral couples-based group intervention designed to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) in military couples. The primary purposes of this pilot study were to determine feasibility of recruiting, retaining, and assessing SAH-C participants in addition to those participating in a comparison Supportive Therapy (ST) group-based couples intervention.

Disturbed sleep is one of the key symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and may contribute to the genesis and maintenance of PTSD. Our previously published study*, executed in healthy subjects, suggests that adaptive changes occur in sleep architecture, after emotional experiences, that benefit emotional housekeeping and the attenuation of emotional responses to negative emotional experiences. Little is known, however, about the relation between sleep and emotional memory processing in PTSD.

Why do responses to terrorist attacks often perpetuate cycles of deadly violence? Using the violence in Northern Ireland and Rwanda as case studies throughout, Part 1, The Context of Terrorism, looks at the psychological and social influences behind extremism, terrorism and conflict. Part 2, Reponses to a Terrorist Attack, examines the responses that can feed a cycle of violence and assesses a range of approaches for their success in ending violence.