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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
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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 

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