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The Counting Method: Applying the Rule of Parsimony to the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Hadar Lubin

Post Traumatic Stress Center, 19 Edwards Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511 and Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, ptsdcenter{at}sbcglobal.net

The authors contend that the primary therapeutic element in psychological treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder is imaginal exposure, and that differences among major approaches are determined more by secondary techniques designed to circumvent the client’s avoidant defenses against exposure. A study is described comparing Prolonged Exposure, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and the Counting Method with 51 multiply-traumatized women. Measures of PTSD were significantly reduced by all three methods, but differences among the methods were negligible. Because the Counting Method utilizes only imaginal exposure as a therapeutic element, support is given to the more parsimonious conclusion that imaginal exposure may be both the necessary and sufficient factor in therapeutic effect, countering a trend in the field toward more complex, multi-faceted treatment packages.

Key Words: Brief treatment • PTSD • women • imaginal exposure • counting method

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Traumatology, Vol. 12, No. 1, 83-99 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/153476560601200106


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Johnson, D. R. Articles by Lubin, H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?