Brief Treatment of a Torture Survivor

Abstract

(from the chapter) describes an attempt to do brief therapy with [a 42-yr-old male] torture survivor from Guatemala [presenting with characteristic symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)] / the client's torture experiences were preceded by childhood trauma of emotional and physical abuse and aggravated by the losses associated with exile / the main therapeutic goal was to ameliorate the client's most distressing symptoms and not to promote characterologic change / the treatment approach selected is . . . Wolberg's eclectic short-term psychotherapy / [this] methodology is characterized by its use of various modalities of treatment, ranging from behavior therapy techniques to dream analysis / [describes] the process of [15-week] therapy . . . session by session, with a brief comment following the description of each session (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)