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I have had many patients come to my office needing help after a traumatic event. Acute Stress Disorder is defined by the patient experiencing the following during the event. The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others and the person's response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror. The following symptoms of the event might also occur:

1. A feeling of numbing, detachment, or absence of emotional responsiveness

2. A reduction in awareness of his or her surroundings

3. Derealization (separation from the outside world)

4. Depersonalization and

5. Dissociative amnesia (inability to recall an important aspect of the trauma). Patients often complain of recurrent images of the traumatic event or seeing flashbacks. Also, people with acute stress disorder often ignore stimuli that might reactivate thoughts or feelings of the event. People who suffer from the disorder, suffer from severe anxiety and stress often impacting all parts of their lives. Acute stress disorder is a very debilitating disorder. However, many of my clients have gone on to lead a very happy and fulfilling life.

In an article published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 2005, a study was performed on eighty-seven people who suffered from acute stress disorder. In the study, participants were randomly put into three groups. Group one received six sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT is a type of therapy that attempts to change, behaviors, beliefs, and assumptions. In this study CBT was used to alter the emotions felt by the participants suffering from acute stress disorder. Group two received six sessions of CBT including hypnosis. The hypnotherapy included an induction into hypnosis and gave suggestions to the participants to visually expose them to the event. Group three received six sessions of supportive counseling.

The results of this study showed that participants in group two, treated with CBT and hypnosis showed the most improvement after the treatment. Participants were evaluated after their treatment and six months after the treatment and results during these times showed that the CBT group and the CBT-hypnosis group had fewer people suffering from stress compared to the group who received supportive counseling. This shows the benefit of CBT in treating stress disorders.

The same study compared the frequency of re-experiencing the traumatic event after they received treatment. The study showed that the group that received CBT and hypnosis experienced less re-experiencing symptoms than the group that received CBT alone. This result shows the added benefit of including hypnosis in the CBT treatment.

I often see clients with acute stress disorder for a series of three to six sessions, depending on their traumatic experience and their symptoms. At the end of their treatment, my clients feel that they have made great strides in moving forward with their life and not letting the traumatizing event influence their life. The stress is often something they will have to work on for a long time after they see me. The use of hypnosis gives them a huge boost in confidence, realizing that they can battle the stress and anxiety. I follow up with clients six months after treating them for a stress disorder and I have received a lot of positive feedback. It is great knowing that people are able to change their life around after experiencing a traumatic event.

Sources

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, v73 n2 p334-340 Apr 2005