Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)

Assessment

Screening, diagnostic, and outcome-measurement tools for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) (Past week version)
  • Scale download archived version
  • Weathers, F. W., Blake, D. D., Schnurr, P. P., Kaloupek, D. G., Marx, B. P., & Keane, T. M. (2015). The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) – Past Week [Measurement instrument].
• Impact Of Events Scale – Revised (IES-R) | Weiss, Marmar | 1996
  • Scale download archived copy
  • Weiss, D. S., & Marmar, C. R. (1996). The Impact of Event Scale – Revised. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Eds.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 399-411). New York: Guilford.
• Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5) | Weathers, Blake, Schnurr, Kaloupek, Marx, Keane | 2013
  • Scale download  archived copy
  • Weathers, F. W., Blake, D. D., Schnurr, P. P., Kaloupek, D. G., Marx, B. P., & Keane, T. M. (2013). The Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5) – Standard. [Measurement instrument].
• PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) | Weathers, Litz, Keane, Palmieri, Marz, Schnurr | 2013
  • Scale (Standard)  download  archived copy
  • Scale with criterion A download archived copy
  • Scale with life events checklist and criterion A download archived copy
  • Manual download archived copy
  • Weathers, F. W., Litz, B. T., Keane, T. M., Palmieri, P. A., Marx, B. P., & Schnurr, P. P. (2013). The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) – Standard. [Measurement instrument].
  • Blevins, C. A., Weathers, F. W., Davis, M. T., Witte, T. K., & Domino, J. L. (2015). The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5): Development and initial psychometric evaluation. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 28, 489-498. doi: 10.1002/jts.22059
• PTSD Symptom Scale – Interview Version for DSM-5 (PSS-I-5) | Foa, McLean, Zang, Zhong, Rauch, Porter, Knowles, Powers, Kauffman | 2016
  • Scale  download  archived copy
  • Foa, Edna B.,McLean, Carmen P.,Zang, Yinyin,Zhong, Jody,Rauch, Sheila,Porter, Katherine,Knowles, Kelly,Powers, Mark B.,Kauffman, Brooke Y. (2016) Psychological Assessment, Vol 28(10), 1159-1165
• Severity Of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms | Kilpatrick, Resnick, Friedman | 2013
  • Scale – Adult download archived copy
  • Scale – Child Age 11-17 download archived copy
• Trauma Appraisal Questionnaire (TAQ) | DePrince, Zurbruggen, Chu, Smart | 2010
  • Scale download archived copy
  • DePrince, A. P., Zurbriggen, E. L., Chu, A. T., & Smart, L. (2010). Development of the trauma appraisal questionnaire. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 19(3), 275-299. download archived copy
• Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ) | Brewin, Rose, Andrews, Green, Tata, McEvedy, Turner, Foa | 2002
  • Scale  download  archived copy
  • Brewin, C. R, Rose, S., Andrews, B., Green, J., Tata, P., McEvedy, C. Turner, S, Foa, E. B. (2002). Brief screening instrument for post-traumatic stress disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 181, 158-162.

Screening, diagnostic, and outcome-measurement tools for dissociation

• Brief Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES-B) | Dalenberg, Carlson | 2010
  • Scale download archived copy
  • DES-B (Dalenberg C, Carlson E, 2010) modified for DSM-5 by C. Dalenberg and E. Carlson.
• Dissociative Experiences Scale – II | Carlson, Putnam |1993
  • Scale download archived copy
  • Carlson, E.B. & Putnam, F.W. (1993). An update on the Dissociative Experience Scale. Dissociation 6(1), p. 16-27.
• Shutdown Dissociation Scale (Shut-D) | Schauer, Schalinski, Elbert | 2015
  • Scale (English)  download archived copy
  • Scale (German) download archived copy
  • Scale (Norwegian) download archived copy
  • Schalinski, I., Schauer, M., & Elbert, T. (2015). The Shutdown Dissociation Scale (Shut-D). European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 6

Resources related to the assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

• Wilson, J.P., & Keane, T.M. (Eds.). (2004). Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD: A practitioner’s handbook (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
• Orsillo, S. M. (2001). Measures for acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. In M.M. Antony, S.M. Orsillo & L. Roemer (Eds.), Practitioner’s guide to empirically based measures of anxiety (pp. 255-307). Boston, MA: Springer.
• Steel, J. L., Dunlavy, A. C., Stillman, J., & Pape, H. C. (2011). Measuring depression and PTSD after trauma: Common scales and checklists. Injury, 42(3), 288–300.

Intervention

Treatment guides

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines | December 2018 download  archived copy
• Clinical practice guideline for the treatment of PTSD | American Psychological Association | 2017 download archived copy
• Guidelines for Treating Dissociative Identity Disorder in Adults | International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISST-D) | 2011 download archived copy
• Guidelines for the Evaluation and Treatment of Dissociative Symptoms in Children and Adolescents | International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISST-D) | 2003 download archived copy
• Guideline for the treatment and planning of services for complex post-traumatic stress disorder in adults | UKPTS: McFetridge, Hauenstein Swan, Here, Karatzias, Greenberg, Kitchiner, Morley | 2017 download archived copy
• Dissociative phenomena in the everyday lives of trauma survivors | Janina Fischer | 2001 download archived copy
• Posttraumatic stress disorder: patient treatment manual | Andrews, Crino, Hunt, Lampe, Page | 1994 download archived copy
• Modulation, mindfulness, and movement in the treatment of trauma-related depression (window of tolerance) | Pat Ogden | 2009 download archived copy

Treatments

Treatments for PTSD include:

• Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), which includes ‘enhanced reliving’ / updating of ‘hotspots’ (e.g. Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Grey, Young & Holmes, 2002)
• Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)
• Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) (Shauer, Neuner, Elpert) Definition at commonlanguagepsychotherapy.org
• Prolonged Exposure (PE) (Foa) Definition at commonlanguagepsychotherapy.org
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) (Resick) CPT treatment manual Free online training course in CPT available from cptforptsd

Information Handouts

• Coping with trauma (workbook) | Good Thinking download archived copy
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patient handout | Royal College Of Psychiatrists | 2005 download archived copy
• Surviving torture: understanding the nature and purpose of torture | Christian Peacemaker Teams download  archived copy
• Understanding traumatic intrusions | Helen Kennerley | 2016 download archived copy
• Processing trauma: the factory metaphor | Hawkins download archived copy
• Explaining the rationale for trauma focused work: why it’s good to talk (children & young people) | Trickey | 2012 download archived copy
• After the event: supporting children after a frightening event | Trickey, Bailie, Serpell | 2010 download archived copy
• The Power and Control Wheel diagram: for understanding abusive and violent behaviors | National Centre on Domestic and Sexual Violence download archived copy
• Was it my fault? Self-blame and survivors | PANDYS / Shannon | 2007 download archived copy
• Coping with trauma | Dr Jim White | 2006 download archived copy
• Grounding Techniques CAMH.net archived copy
• Detaching from emotional pain e-tmf.org archived copy
• Grounding techniques list link archive.org
• A collection of soothing activities wwu.edu archived copy

Presentations

• Cognitive therapy for PTSD | Nick Grey | 2016 download archived copy
• Beyond reliving in PTSD treatment: advanced skills for overcoming common obstacles in memory work | Hannah Murray, Sharif El-Leithy  download  archive.org
• Dissociation and PTSD | Fiona Kennedy | 2010 download archived copy
• Using compassionate imagery in shame based flashbacks in PTSD | Deborah Lee | 2009 download archive.org
• Introduction to traumatic stress | Kitchiner & Roberts   download archive.org
• Using exposure to treat PTSD: why, when, and how? | Fyvie download archive.org
• A trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy case conceptualization: from assessment to termination |  Alison Hendricks download archive.org
• PTSD as a shame disorder | Judith Herman | 2014 download archived copy

Video

• What is post-traumatic stress disorder? (Animation) | UK Trauma Council | 2023 download
• What is trauma-focused CBT? (Animation) | UK Trauma Council | 2023 download
• Coping with scary and distressing memories (Animation) | UK Trauma Council | 2023 download
• Absolutely not: an other thoughts you might have about mental health support (Animation) | UK Trauma Council | 2023 download

Recommended Reading

These papers are recommended reading if you intend to work with PTSD. Ehlers & Clark (2000) present a comprehensive cognitive model, Grey et al (2002) present a framework for working with the meaning of the worst moments, and Brewin et al (1996) present a model for understanding what is happening to memory in PTSD.

• Brewin, C. R., Dalgleish, T., Joseph, S. (1996). A dual representation theory of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychological Review, 103, 670-686 download archived copy (Useful for understanding the neural basis of memory in PTSD)
• Brewin, C. R., Gregory, J. D., Lipton, M., Burgess, N. (2010). Intrusive images in psychological disorders: Characteristics, neural mechanisms, and treatment. Psychological Review, 117(1), 210-232 download archived copy
• Ehlers, A., Clark, D. M. (2000). A cognitive model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 319-345 download archived copy (The canonical reference for the treatment of PTSD: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy [TF-CBT]. This model is suitable even for more complex PTSD, within a phased approach)
• Grey, N., Young, K., & Holmes, E. (2002). Cognitive restructuring within reliving: a treatment for peritraumatic emotional “hotspots” in posttraumatic stress disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 30, 37-56 download archived copy
  
• Schauer, M., Elbert, T. (2010). Dissociation following traumatic stress. Journal of Psychology, 218(2), 109-127 download archived copy

Complex PTSD

Complex PTSD (cPTSD) has been a somewhat disputed diagnostic category. Some argue that it is simply a severe form of PTSD, whereas others believe that it represents a distinct cluster. DSM5 has a single PTSD category with degrees of severity, ICD-11 is expected to have PTSD and complex PTSD categories.

• ISTSS guidelines position paper on complex PTSD in adults | ISTSS | 2017 download archived copy
• Friedman, M. J. (2013). Finalizing PTSD in DSM-5: Getting here from there and where to go next. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26, 548-556 (Not strictly about complex PTSD but speaks about definitions) download archived copy
• Herman, J. L. (1992). Complex PTSD: A syndrome in survivors of prolonged and repeated trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 5(3), 377-391 download archived copy 
• Terr, L. C. (1991). Childhood traumas: An outline and overview. American journal of psychiatry, 148(1), 10-20 download

Other papers

• Arntz, A., & Weertman, A. (1999). Treatment of childhood memories: Theory and practice. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37(8), 715-740 download
• Chessell, Z. J., Brady, F., Akbar, S., Stevens, A., & Young, K. (2019). A protocol for managing dissociative symptoms in refugee populations. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 12. download
• Levin, R. J., & van Berlo, W. (2004). Sexual arousal and orgasm in subjects who experience forced or non-consensual sexual stimulation–a review. Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, 11(2), 82-88. download archived copy
• Medford, N., Sierra, M., Baker, D., David, A. S. (2005). Understanding and treating depersonalisation disorder. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 11, 92-100 download  archived copy
• Read, J., Hammersley, P., Rudegeair, T. (2007). Why, when and how to ask about childhood abuse. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 13, 101-110  download archived copy