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Psychological Mechanisms of PTSD and Its Treatment

  • Disaster Psychiatry: Trauma, PTSD, and Related Disorders (E Foa and A Asnaani, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Psychological mechanisms can be defined as processes or events that are responsible for specific changes in psychological outcomes. In psychotherapy research, mechanisms are the factors through which interventions produce change. In this article, we explain the importance of identifying psychological mechanisms, describe methods for identifying them, and analyze recent literature on the psychological mechanisms underlying the development and treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Based on the findings of recent investigations (from 2013 to present), we focus on four putative mechanisms: emotional engagement, extinction and contextualization, distress tolerance, and negative posttraumatic cognitions. Future directions for psychological mechanism research are also outlined, including possible opportunities for capitalizing on the most promising mechanisms identified to date.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Health Services Research and Development, 2800 Plymouth Road, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Rebecca K. Sripada

  2. VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, 48105, MI, USA

    Rebecca K. Sripada & Israel Liberzon

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 2450 Plymouth Road, 48109, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Rebecca K. Sripada & Israel Liberzon

  4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, 12 Executive Park Drive NE #200, 30329, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Sheila A.M. Rauch

  5. Atlanta VA Medical Center, 1670 Clairmont Road, 30033, Decatur, GA, USA

    Sheila A.M. Rauch

Authors
  1. Rebecca K. Sripada
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  2. Sheila A.M. Rauch
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  3. Israel Liberzon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rebecca K. Sripada.

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Conflict of Interest

Rebecca K. Sripada declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Sheila A.M. Rauch declares that she has no conflict of interest.

Israel Liberzon declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Disaster Psychiatry: Trauma, PTSD, and Related Disorders

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Sripada, R.K., Rauch, S.A. & Liberzon, I. Psychological Mechanisms of PTSD and Its Treatment. Curr Psychiatry Rep 18, 99 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-016-0735-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-016-0735-9

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