Screening
Weekly Agenda
DSM-5 Criteria
- Initial one-on-one meeting
- Female
- Veteran
- Diagnosis of PTSD
- Presenting with nightmares, flashbacks and emotional distress
- Various military ranking
In-Class Activity
Length: 90 minutes
Day: optional
Group Size: max of 10
"Brain injuries caused by blast events change soldiers in ways many can’t articulate. Some use art therapy, creating painted masks to express how they feel."
(National Geographic)
Rational
Materials
A. Exposure to death/threatened death, actual/threatened injury, or actual/threatened sexual violence
B. At least one intrusion symptom:
- Recurrent, involuntary, intrusive distressing memories
- Recurrent distressing dreams related to trauma
- Dissociative reactions (i.e. flashbacks, feels or acts as if trauma were recurring)
- Intense/prolonged distress in response
C. At least one avoidance symptom:
- Avoids internal reminders of trauma
- Avoids external reminders of trauma
D. At least three negative alterations in cognitions and mood that began/worsened after trauma:
- Inability to remember important aspects of trauma
- Persistent and exaggerated negative expectations about one's self, others, or world
- Persistently excessive blame of self or others about trauma
- Pervasive negative emotional state
- Markedly diminished interest
- Feeling of Detachment from others
- Persistent inability to experience positive emotions
E. At least three alterations in arousal and reactivity that began/worsened after trauma:
- Irritable or aggressive behavior
- Reckless or self-destructive behavior
- Hypervigilance
- Exaggerated startle response
- Problems with concentration
- Sleep disturbance
F. Symptoms began or worsened after trauma and continued for at least on month
Objectives and Group Goals
- “We discovered that women responded more strongly to the visual cues than men when they saw a particular image that they knew was going to be followed by an electric shock,” Inslicht explained. “This suggests that women conditioned more robustly than men. In our future work, we’d like to get a better understanding as to why these differences may occur.”
- Important to focus on the reconnection of human bonds
- Presence of strong emotions of anger, hate, rage, guilt, shame
- "Treatment needs to focus on restoring the connection to self and others" (Keenan, Lumley, & Schneider, 2014, p. 548)
- "Recommended cofacilitation…intensive trauma work can be emotionally difficult for a therapist…the group can be facilitated by one therapist wo is experience in treating PTSD…the therapist plays an active role in directing the group process especially in early stage” (Keenan, Lumley, & Schneider, 2014, p. 552)
- Open/Welcoming room
- Table (for some main activities)
- Paper (lined and blank (colored))
- Craft supplies: paint, pens, pencils, feathers, glue, etc.
- Masks
- Informative hand-outs
- Something to play music with
- M&Ms
- Food for celebration
- Gain understanding of PTSD and symptoms
- Help alleviate emotional distress due to PTSD
- Become aware of origin of emotional distress/flashbacks
- Learn how to accept and appropriately deal with emotions
- Work on building social relationships/trust
- Learn to look at occurring nightmares and learn how to work on guided imagery to alter them
PTSD Support Group Proposal