This information handout provides a simplified explanation of post-traumatic stress disorder's (PTSD) causes and maintaining factors, in a visual format accessible to clients.
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.
Understanding PTSD is a psychoeducational handout that visually illustrates the cognitive processes involved in the development and maintenance of post-traumatic stress disorder. Illustrating key elements from Ehlers & Clark’s (2000) cognitive model, it breaks down complex psychological concepts into client-friendly language.
Key mechanisms highlighted include the role of poorly processed trauma memories leading to re-experiencing, the impact of negative appraisals in maintaining a sense of current threat, and the role of coping strategies such as avoidance and hypervigilance in preventing recovery.
This resource supports therapeutic work by:
Assisting individuals struggling with trauma-related memories and beliefs.
Share the handout during psychoeducation to introduce PTSD processes.
Facilitate exploration of the client’s beliefs, symptoms, and coping responses.
Encourage reflection on how avoidance behaviours maintain distress.
Use the resource as part of therapist training, supervision, or team formulation.
Integrate insights into trauma-focused treatment.
Understanding PTSD is based on the cognitive model developed by Ehlers and Clark (2000), which proposes that PTSD persists when traumatic experiences are processed in ways that lead to a sense of ongoing current threat. In this model, traumatic memories are often poorly elaborated, fragmented, and disconnected from their original temporal context (Brewin, 2014). This disorganisation can contribute to re-experiencing symptoms, where memories intrude vividly and involuntarily.
At the same time, individuals may develop negative appraisals about themselves, others, and the world in the aftermath of trauma. Beliefs such as “I am powerless” or “The world is dangerous” maintain a heightened sense of threat even when the trauma is no longer occurring. Coping behaviours like avoidance, hypervigilance, and thought suppression, although initially understandable attempts to manage distress, inadvertently prevent trauma memories from being processed and integrated, prolonging symptoms over time.
This resource supports clients and therapists to collaborate around the maintenance mechanisms of PTSD in an accessible way. Clear psychoeducation about these processes can normalise clients' experiences, reduce shame, and enhance engagement with trauma-focused interventions. By providing a visual reference, the resource supports case formulation and the foundation for effective trauma focused treatment.
