More than 350 million adult survivors of war throughout the world suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) and/or major depression
Most live in low- and middle-income countries
While treating the systemic impact of PTSD in these areas is extremely difficult, effective treatments are available
Exposure therapies, such as Narrative Exposure Therapy, can be brief, culturally sensitive and help communities affected by complex traumatic stress
Exposure therapy involves imaginatively reliving the life-altering moments leading to a PTSD diagnosis
Evidence suggests that exposure therapy works by reconnecting areas of the brain that stopped communicating due to experiencing one or more traumatic events
Although the focus of exposure therapy is on reducing individual PTSD symptoms, the impact of therapy can extend beyond the individual level leading to better relationship functioning and social engagement
Multi-level treatments like exposure therapy and relational interventions could be a powerful treatment direction for hundreds of millions of people worldwide who suffer from PTSD and its consequences
"Bioecological Implications of Narrative Exposure Therapy in Low-Resource Settings: Individual, Family, Community, and Socio-Political Contexts." Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy (2019).