Posttraumatic stress disorder

This article provides an overview of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). After a brief review of the diagnostic criteria and epidemiology of PTSD this article provides a more in-depth review of the major psychotherapeutic interventions available to treat PTSD. These interventions include psychodynamic psychotherapies, cognitive-behavioral therapies, cognitive therapies, and anxiety management therapies. Each of these broad categories of interventions is reviewed by individual therapy type. For each therapy there is a general description and discussion of the theoretical basis and scientific evidence supporting clinical use.