Stress Relief

Keeping Steady on Life’s River of Stress

Michael S. Scheeringa M.D.

The Hype and the Truth About Measurement-Based Care

Voluntary implementation of measurement-based care has hit a wall. An alternative that seems to work better is involuntary implementation.

Four Ways Sufferers Contribute to Missed PTSD Diagnoses

Missing the diagnosis of PTSD is a common problem for clinicians. Patients and not-yet-patients can also contribute to the problem.

How Do I Find Mental Health Providers?

Types and tips: The types of mental health providers and tips on how the find the right kind for your particular needs.

PTSD, Play Therapy, and the Lack of Research

Confused about the right treatment for children with PTSD? Here is clarification about the research evidence and some confusing claims.

Is Play Therapy Appropriate for Children With PTSD?

6 reasons why play therapy may not be ideal for kids dealing with trauma.

Joker and Thank You for Your Service: Impact of Trauma

Does trauma change your essential personality? Two recent films present different views on the impact of trauma on character and morality.

PTSD Research Developments of 2019: Year in Review

What’s new in trauma and PTSD research? If research is to be more than an exercise of confirmation bias to support belief systems, the wheat needs to be separated from the chaff.

How Fast Can Automatic Negative Thoughts Change?

Clinic data show what percentages of psychotherapy patients can change in less than three months, between three and 12 months, and longer than 12 months

How Do I Change Negative Thoughts Related to PTSD?

Three steps to finding and changing automatic negative thoughts.

Does Psychotherapy With CBT Involve Homework?

Eight steps to good in vivo exposures for PTSD using structure and a systematic plan.

Exposure Therapy for PTSD: The Path Through Avoidance

Is exposure therapy the best treatment for PTSD?

When Is One Psychotherapy Better Than Another?

The tension between fidelity and flexibility: Is it manualized protocols or therapists that need to be flexible?

What Does a Good Therapist Do Every Day?

On the importance of structure in psychotherapy. How can you tell if your therapist is good?

How Can Psychotherapy Help Me Change?

Achieve insight into your unconscious, figure out your life path, sort through life challenges, or symptom reduction: What can you expect from therapy?

How Much Improvement Can I Expect from Psychotherapy?

Most, but not all, clients show major improvement. Predicting response based on severity, complexity, motivation, and cognitive capacity is the next step for therapy.

How to Measure Improvement in Psychotherapy: 5 Approaches

Each approach to measure reductions of problems has its pros and cons, but measuring all of them for every patient would be overwhelming. Or would it?

The Gospels of Private Practice and Resistance to Full CBT

Critics of CBT sermonize their gospels of private practice about why full CBT cannot or should not be done, yet we do it, and our data shows it works.

Is the Dominance of CBT-Lite Coming to an End?

The half-hearted use of CBT techniques has been the main way CBT is practiced in the community. A few payers are getting serious about trying to change that.

The Dark Pool of Psychotherapy

Therapists should be more transparent with caregivers about a child's treatment.

How to Not Miss a PTSD Diagnosis

Clinicians can be concerned about upsetting clients by asking about trauma, but the benefits of identifying PTSD outweigh the risks.

After Florence: Should Young Children See Flooded Homes?

The calm after the storm may be the time of most risk to develop PTSD for young children who return to see their devastated homes.

Truthiness of the Trauma-Informed Science-Policy Gap

New Orleans has joined the vogue of passing trauma-informed resolutions. Who does that really help?

Will the Thailand Cave Survivor Boys Develop PTSD?

We know that the events that cause PTSD are discrete moments of intense panic when individuals believe they or a loved one are about to die.

Can We Prevent School Shootings?

How can we comprehend such senseless acts of callousness and cruelty? Social media at the local level may be a key to prevention.

16 Tips for Talking with Children After a School Shooting

New advice on how to help children following a school shooting. Much advice found online is solid, but some appears impractical or counterproductive.

Underrecognition of PTSD, Part III

Five simple things you can do to take matters in your own hands.

The Myth of Trauma-Informed Care

Does a simple narrative explain many of life’s problems? Many trauma-informed care proponents are selling a narrative, not science.

Underrecognition of PTSD II: Clinicians Are Taught Wrong

Demystifying the obscure interviewing techniques of doctors and other clinicians: The “frame of reference” problem.

Why PTSD Is Under-Recognized, Part I: The Upside Down

Clinicians miss the diagnosis in patients with PTSD approximately 90% of the time. Here are seven reasons why the diagnosis is under-recognized.

Four Reasons Why Potential Patients Do Not Seek Treatment

It is common to blame individuals for not seeking professional help, but it is likely not their fault. Mental health providers are more to blame for being poor at marketing.

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