Post-traumatic stress disorder, Post-traumatic stress disorder--Case studies, Stress 

For more than twenty years, Dr. Mardi Horowitz has set the standard for psychotherapy with victims of trauma. No other work has played so major a role in determining how we think about, diagnose, and treat the many patients responding to such trauma as abuse, bereavement, rape, and injury. In this revised and expanded edition, Dr. Horowitz incorporates the most recent advances in the understanding and treatment of stress response syndromes to date. He describes the general characteristics of stress response syndromes, including signs and symptoms, and elaborates on treatment techniques that integrate cognitive and dynamic approaches. Verbatim case material is used to illustrate how specific personality factors and preexisting conflicts contribute to different patients' reactions to stressful life events. For instance, the author contrasts the stance a therapist would take with an obsessional patient versus a patient with a narcissistic personality disorder. The expanded clinical material includes a phase-by-phase, "how to" approach that is particularly instructive and of invaluable help for less experienced therapists. This comprehensive treatment manual offers both an astute and empathic understanding of the impact of traumatic events in patients' lives and increased competence for professionals treating those with posttraumatic stress disorder, grief, and adjustment disorders. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition. Editorial Reviews Review Stress Response Syndromes has already achieved the status of the classic work in the field. In this updated edition, Horowitz integrates the newest data available to make an outstanding book even better. Both students and experienced clinicians will find much to learn from this new edition. (Glen O. Gabbard, M.D.) This is an important book on an important subject. It is at one level a primer on psychotherapeutic help for victims of trauma--by rape, sudden bereavement, or injury. It describes with great sensitivity and detail the feelings of fear, rage, shame, guilt, and numbness associated with trauma, and focuses in particular on 'intrusive images' of violence that can haunt victims for years afterwards. It shows how, if these feelings are to be overcome, the meaning of the trauma in the patient's biography has to be understood. (Jeremy Holmes, M.D.) Stress Response Syndromes has been considered an authoritative work on the subject for three decades. This important update to a classic work should be purchased by all research libraries serving trauma researchers and scholars. (Choice Magazine) Stress Response Syndromes is a classic, a book that defined the modern era of understanding and treating posttraumatic stress disorder. Dr. Horowitz applies broad theoretical foundations and crystalline case description to enhance understanding of the nature and treatment of stress response syndromes. His conception of fluctuating under- and over-modulation of response to stress intrusion and avoidance is a critical contribution to our understanding of PTSD. Dr. Horowitz creatively merges expertise in psychotherapy of various Axis II personality disorders with grief work, transference, and developmental problems. The reader is treated to an erudite approach to complex treatment involving the interaction of personality and traumatic experience. Dr. Horowitz and colleagues combine empathy with lucidity, compassion with sophistication in psychotherapy. This book is the primer for the psychodynamic treatment of trauma. (David Spiegel, M.D.) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition. About the Author Mardi Jon Horowitz, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. He has directed a series of programs including the Psychotherapy Evaluation and Study Center, Center for the Study of Neuroses, and Center on Stress and Personality. Dr. Horowitz has published many books, including States of Mind: Configurational Analysis of Individual Personality, Personality Styles and Brief Psychotherapy, and Nuances of Technique in Dynamic Psychotherapy. He is the recipient of the Pioneer Award of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies for his achievements in developing the diagnoses of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and disorders of complicated grief. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.