WEBVTT

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-Written Exposure Therapy

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is about five sessions,

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and, generally, we meet once a week.

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And there's nothing you need to do to prepare for sessions.

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The first session is the longest.

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It takes about an hour.

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And that session includes some general information about

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what PTSD symptoms are, and how those symptoms are maintained,

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and why Written Exposure Therapy is going to work.

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And then it goes on to doing the first of five written exposures,

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which takes about 30 minutes.

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The therapist will check in with you

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at the end of each writing narrative,

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and then you're going to give your narrative

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back to the therapist for them to read

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and give you feedback in the next session.

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There's no between-session assignments with this treatment.

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But we do ask that people allow themselves

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to have whatever thoughts and feelings about the trauma

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that comes up between the sessions,

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rather than trying to avoid,

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which is what they were doing before.

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Often, people find that it's easier to write about this

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than they were expecting, and, in fact,

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the time seems to go by quite quickly for them.

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The other thing that people find is,

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the more that they write about it,

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not only is it easier for them

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to think about the trauma memory,

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but they also find that it's easier for them to do things

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that they had been avoiding previously.

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They also find that they start to talk about it

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with people that they are -- loved ones, family members,

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and they start doing things

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that are important for their family members, as well --

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maybe going to soccer games

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or going out to dinner with their spouse.

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-You might choose it because

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it doesn't ask you to do anything in between sessions,

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so everything that you're doing in this treatment,

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you're doing with a therapist in the room to support you

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and guide you through the process.

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So it's a really...

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It's a really approachable way to confront something

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that's been really difficult.