Self help with PTSD - Wise Counsel podcast

Post traumatic stress disorder is not exclusively a syndrome for war veterans and terrorist victims. On the Wise Counsel Podcast Victoria Lemle Beckner explains PTSD can be caused by any traumatic event, like for example a car accident. What is important is to recognize the symptoms and she goes through great lengths explaining them.

The therapies for PTSD she suggests are CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), approaches from Positive Psychology and Awareness techniques. When interviewer David van Nuys asks about other therapies, as far as she can address them, her argument boils down to claiming that CBT covers the same. CBT's function is to reconnect to the traumatic event and reduce the amount of stress, anxiety and retreat is caused by it. Positive Psychology helps in that it taps into the strong points of the client and the contribution of Awareness techniques is that it learns people to accept certain feelings in themselves. The whole of her work is laid down in a book that provides a self-help strategy for PTSD.

One may wonder whether an intense syndrome such as PTSD is apt for self-help, but at least Lemle's work will help patients on track. Van Nuys's questions are spot-on as usual and the quality of the podcats will only be increased if you are a regular listener to Wise Counsel and his other podcast Shrink Rap Radio - in that case you know exactly where the questions come from.

More Wise Counsel:
Wise Counsel - psychology podcast review,
Irvin Yalom,
David H. Barlow,
Richard Heimberg,
Tony Madrid.

And:
Shrink Rap Radio on PTSD with war veterans.