ABSTRACT
Behavioral approaches to the assessment and treatment of psychological problems have received much attention in recent years. The present chapter is among the first to extend the principles of behavioral learning to our understanding of combat-related PTSD. Specifically, this chapter proposes a conditioning model to help explain the severe symptomatology that accompanies the PTSD diagnosis. From this conceptual model, both assessment and treatment procedures have been developed and are presented in the chapter. The section on assessment includes a description of the multimethod, psychophysiological assessment currently in use in our program. The section on treatment describes the use of both stress management training and imaginal flooding (implosive) therapy.
