In 2018, a study by the same team found that written exposure therapy was as effective as cognitive processing therapy, another first-line, or most highly recommended, PTSD treatment. The first study of written exposure therapy as a treatment for PTSD appeared in 2012. Why It MattersCognitive processing therapy and prolonged exposure therapy, the two treatments most highly recommended by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, have been in widespread use since the 1980s and are backed up by abundant research. Written exposure therapy, Dr. Sloan said, seems to achieve similar effects in fewer sessions. Because most people can’t go to treatment for 12 to 16 sessions.”What’s NextData on the effectiveness of written exposure therapy is still emerging.

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Persons: Denise Sloan, ”, Sloan, James Pennebaker, “, Barbara Rothbaum Organizations: Behavioral, National Center, of Veterans Affairs and Defense, Emory University Locations: Texas