Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-hbs24 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-11T15:54:37.810Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Use of Image Habituation Training with Post-traumatic Stress Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kevin Vaughan  and
Nicholas Tarrier
Kevin Vaughan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hornsby Hospital, Hornsby, NSW 2077, Australia
Nicholas Tarrier*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Sydney, NSW 20006, Australia, now University of Manchester, Withington Hospital, Manchester M20 8LR
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An exposure treatment for patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is described. Image habituation training (IHT) involves the patient in generating verbal descriptions of the traumatic event and recording these onto an audiotape. After the initial training session with the therapist, homework sessions of self-directed exposure in which the patient visualised the described event in response to listening to the audiotape were carried out. Of ten consecutive patients who received this treatment, six improved considerably after ten homework sessions, two showed moderate improvements, and two showed minimal improvement on a range of outcome measures. There were significant decreases in anxiety between and within homework sessions, suggesting that habituation did occur and was responsible for improvement. Treatment gains were maintained at six-month follow-up.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 161 , Issue 5 , November 1992 , pp. 658 - 664
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., et al (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borkovec, T. (1982) Facilitation and inhibition of functional CS exposure in the treatment of phobias. In Learning Theory Approaches to Psychiatry (ed. Boulougouris, J.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Boudewyns, P. A. & Hyer, L. (1990) Physiological responses to combat memories and preliminary treatment outcome in Vietnam veteran PTSD patients treated with direct exposure. Behavior Therapy, 21, 63–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davey, G. C. L. (1989) UCS revaluation and conditioning models of acquired fears. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27, 521–528.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. (1976) The learning theory model of neurosis: a new approach. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 14, 251–267.Google Scholar
Foa, E. B. & Kozak, M. J. (1986) Emotional processing of fear: exposure to corrective information. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 20–35.Google Scholar
Foa, E. B., Steketee, G. & Rothbaum, B. O. (1989) Behavioural/cognitive conceptualisations of post-traumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Therapy, 20, 155–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grigsby, J. P. (1987) The use of imagery in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175, 55–59.Google Scholar
Helzer, J. E., Robins, L. & McEvoy, L. (1987) Posttraumatic stress disorder in the general population. New England Journal of Medicine, 317, 1630–1634.Google Scholar
Horowitz, M. J. (1986) Stress response syndromes: a review of posttraumatic and adjustment disorders. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 37, 241–249.Google ScholarPubMed
Horowitz, M. J., Wilner, N. & Alvarez, W. (1979) Impact of Event Scale: a measure of subjective stress. Psychosomatic Medicine, 41, 209–218.Google Scholar
Keane, T. M. & Kaloupek, D. G. (1982) Imaginal flooding in the treatment of a posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 138–140.Google Scholar
Kinzie, D. J., Boehniein, J. K., Leung, P. K., et al (1990) The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder and its clinical significance among Southeast Asian refugees. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 913–917.Google ScholarPubMed
Kipper, D. A. (1977) Behavior therapy for fears brought on by war experiences. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45, 216–221.Google Scholar
Lang, P. J. (1979) A bio-informational theory of emotional imagery. Psychophysiology, 16, 495–512.Google Scholar
Mowrer, O. H. (1960) Learning Theory and Behavior. New York: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pallmeyer, T. D., Blanchard, E. B. & Kolb, L. C. (1986) The psychophysiology of combat-induced posttraumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24, 645–652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pitman, R. K., Orr, S. P., Fogue, D. F., et al (1990) Psychophysiologic responses to combat imagery of Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder versus other anxiety disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 49–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salkovskis, P. M. (1985) Obsessional–compulsive problems: a cognitive–behavioural analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 23, 571–583.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M. & Kirk, J. (1983) Obsessional disorders. In Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Psychiatric Problems (eds K. Hawton, P. Salkovskis, J. Kirk, et al). Oxford: Oxford Medical.Google Scholar
Zilberg, N. J., Weiss, D. S. & Horowitz, M. J. (1982) Impact of Events Scale: a cross-validation study and some empirical evidence supporting a conceptual model of stress response syndromes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 407–414.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.