ABSTRACT
When it’s time to slay the dragon, which sword should be used? Quite a bit of controlled research has been conducted on the various methods of helping clients to work their trauma memories through to resolution. The clear result is that not all methods are equal. Some tend to be slow and haphazard, whereas others work relatively quickly and thoroughly. The big dividing line is between the traditional talk therapy methods and the structured, focused trauma resolution methods such as prolonged exposure, stress inoculation training, cognitive processing therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). The structured, focused treatments win hands down (Foa, Keene, & Friedman, 2000). They are faster—often by months or even years—and more effective.
