Future Directions in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

 Marilyn P. Safir is Professor Emeritus, (specializing in Clinical and Social Psychology.) Safir was a founder of, and the second President of the Israeli Association of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and received its First Award as Outstanding Member in Recognition for the Establishment of and Contributions to CBT in Israel. She also received the Award for Contributions to International Psychology from The American Psychological Association’s Division for International Psychology (52)  and was its first recipient as  Distinguished Visiting Professor.  She was also a founding Fellow of APA’s Division (56) Trauma Psychology, and a founding Fellow of the American Psychological Society (APS). Helene S. Wallach received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Western Ontario, is a certified supervising Clinical Psychologist, a certified hypnotherapist, a certified marital and family therapist. Her teaching and research interests are varied: Forensic psychology – former head of criminology program in a University college, parole committee member, research in jail and in forensic wards in psychiatric hospitals; CBT – supervisor, co-founded a CBT internship program, a CBT post-grad psychotherapy program, as well as research on various aspects; VR – research into presence in VRCBT as well as efficacy of VRCBT; Pain – research into pain alleviation.  Helene chaired sessions in conferences and reviewed grant proposals and papers.    Albert “Skip” Rizzo received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the SUNY-Binghamton and is the Medical Virtual Reality Director at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. He has Research Professor appointments with the USC Dept. of Psychiatry and the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Skip conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of Virtual Reality (VR) systems for clinical applications. This work spans the domains of psychological, cognitive and motor functioning in both healthy and clinical populations. In 2010, he received the APA D56 Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Practice of Trauma Psychology for his R&D work on VR exposure therapy.  

Part I.PROTECTIVE AND RISK FACTORS FOR PTSD.- 1.Vulnerability to PTSD:  Psychosocial and demographic risk and resilience factors.- 2.Predictors of Vulnerability to PTSD Neurobiological and genetic risk factors.- 3.The early adolescent or 'juvenile stress' translational animal model of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.- 4.An Attachment Perspective on Traumatic and Post-Traumatic Reactions.- 5.Delayed onset PTSD in Israel Veterans:  correlates, clinical picture, and controversy.- Part II.PREVENTING PTSD.- 6.Cutting Edge Research on Prevention of PTSD.- 7.Systems of care for traumatized children:The example of a school-based intervention model.- 8.Is Prevention Better than Cure? How Early Interventions can Prevent PTSD.- 9.Evolution of PTSD Diagnosis in the DSM.- 10.Functional neuroanatomy of PTSD: Developmental cytoarchitectonic trends, memory systems and control process.- Part III.THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVIDENCE-BASED TREATMENT FOR PTSD.- 11.The Psychopathology and Evidence-Based Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: PE.- 12.Cognitive Processing Therapy: Beyond the Basics.- 13.Interpersonal Psychotherapy for PTSD.- Part IV.MODIFICATIONS OF PTSD TREATMENT.- 14.Inclusion of Virtual Reality: A Rationale for the Use of VR in the Treatment of PTSD.- 15.Development and Dissemination of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Combat Related PTSD.- 16.Virtual Reality as a Tool for Delivering PTSD Exposure Therapy.- 17.Mental Health Problems and Treatment Utilization of Iraq and Afghanistan VeteransEnrolled in Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare.- 18.Enhancing Exposure Therapy Using D-Cycloserine (DCS) .- 19.Implementation of Evidence-Based Assessment, Treatment, and Research Programs Following the World Trade Center Disaster on September 11, 2001.- Part V.CASE DISCUSSION.- 20.Case Presentation.- 21.Matching Treatment to Patients  Suffering from PTSD - What We Know and especially What We Don't Know.