Master Clinicians
Pharmacological Strategies for Trauma-Related Mental
Health Complaints
Thomas Mellman MD, Howard University, Washington DC, District of Columbia, USA
Thursday, November 1
4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Using
Empirically Supported Mindfulness Techniques to Enhance Trauma
Therapy
John Briere, PhD, LAC+USC Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA
Saturday, November 3
4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Thursday, November 1, 4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Pharmacological Strategies for Trauma-Related Mental Health
Complaints
Thomas Mellman, MD, Howard University,
Washington DC, District of Columbia, USA
Primary Keyword: Clinical Practice
Presentation Level: Intermediate
Region: Global
Accumulation of findings implicating neurobiological dysregulations as well as overlapping features and frequent comorbidity with disorders that respond to pharmacotherapy have spurred interest in medication treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While two medications from the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class have U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval for PTSD, there remains controversy regarding their overall efficacy and population specificity. Other classes of medications are widely applied to PTSD treatment with mixed evidence bases. Medications have also been applied to symptom specific targets (most notably prazosin for sleep disturbance), acute intervention for preventing PTSD, and enhancing cognitive behavioral therapy.
Dr. Mellman brings experience in clinical trials, published syntheses and interpretations of the research evidence, and most notably, treating patients from both veteran and civilian settings. He will present relevant clinical pharmacology, review of research studies, and respond to questions and facilitate discussion regarding clinical scenarios involving medication treatment (and consideration of prescribing) and PTSD. The session will accommodate the interests of prescribing and non-prescribing clinicians.
Saturday, November 3, 4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Using Empirically Supported Mindfulness Techniques to Enhance
Trauma Therapy
John Briere, PhD, LAC+USC Medical Center,
Los Angeles, California, USA
Primary Keyword: Clinical Practice
Presentation Level: Intermediate
Region: Industrialized Countries
A number of mindfulness-based interventions including mindfulness-based stress reduction [MBSR], mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) have been successfully applied to the treatment of symptoms and disorders ranging from anxiety and depression to substance abuse, chronic pain, and self-injurious behaviors. However, less attention has been paid to mindfulness approaches to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other, more complex, trauma-related difficulties.
This session will outline the potential benefits of mindfulness training for both the therapist and the trauma-exposed client, highlighting constructs such as settling skills, metacognitive awareness, equanimity, compassion, acceptance, and nonjudgmental attention to—and reduced identification with—ongoing mental processes. Also discussed will be the role and contraindications of meditation for trauma survivors, the use of outside mindfulness training classes, and the links between mindfulness and established cognitive-behavioral procedures, including therapeutic exposure, cognitive restructuring, and affect regulation training. Other aspects of mindfulness, however, represent unique contributions of Buddhist psychology that potentially offer new pathways to reduced posttraumatic suffering.
John Briere, Ph.D. is associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and drector of the Psychological Trauma Program at LAC-USC Medical Center. A past president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), he is recipient of the Robert S. Laufer Memorial Award for Scientific Achievement from ISTSS and the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Science of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association. He is a longtime student of meditation and mindfulness.