Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinic
Background: Several trauma-focused treatments have been developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet there are limited studies on how trauma survivors perceive and experience trauma-focused treatments such as prolonged exposure therapy (PE) for PTSD, especially in low- and middle-in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AOSIS
2023-02-01
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| Series: | South African Journal of Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1869 |
| _version_ | 1811161293102514176 |
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| author | Duane D. Booysen Ashraf Kagee |
| author_facet | Duane D. Booysen Ashraf Kagee |
| author_sort | Duane D. Booysen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Several trauma-focused treatments have been developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet there are limited studies on how trauma survivors perceive and experience trauma-focused treatments such as prolonged exposure therapy (PE) for PTSD, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
Aim: The study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of trauma survivors receiving prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD and the general acceptability of PE for PTSD in a LMIC.
Setting: The study was conducted at a community psychology clinic in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Method: Using a qualitative method, seven adult trauma survivors who completed six sessions of brief PE for PTSD were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to identify relevant themes and to understand how participants perceived and experienced PE for PTSD.
Results: The analysis yielded five themes, namely structure, obstacles, gender, exposure and experiences of recovery.
Conclusion: The findings suggested that participants perceived and experienced PE to be generally beneficial for the treatment of PTSD. Moreover, the study suggested that PE is an acceptable trauma therapy in a contextually diverse setting such as the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Overall, considering the evidence base of PE for PTSD, this study contributed to the literature on the acceptability of PE in a South African setting.
Contribution: The findings of the study are in keeping with the extant literature on how persons perceive and experience PE for PTSD. The findings of the study suggests that PE is an acceptable and beneficial trauma therapy for PTSD in a contextually diverse setting such as South Africa. It is recommended that large scale implementation studies be conducted to further investigate the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of PE in South Africa. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T06:12:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-61497f52ae8c4b95bca4bb5cdc11f3de |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1608-9685 2078-6786 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T06:12:51Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | South African Journal of Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-61497f52ae8c4b95bca4bb5cdc11f3de2023-03-02T11:58:20ZengAOSISSouth African Journal of Psychiatry1608-96852078-67862023-02-01290e1e710.4102/sajpsychiatry.v29i0.1869638Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinicDuane D. Booysen0Ashraf Kagee1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Rhodes University, GrahamstownDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Stellenbosch University, StellenboschBackground: Several trauma-focused treatments have been developed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet there are limited studies on how trauma survivors perceive and experience trauma-focused treatments such as prolonged exposure therapy (PE) for PTSD, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Aim: The study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of trauma survivors receiving prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD and the general acceptability of PE for PTSD in a LMIC. Setting: The study was conducted at a community psychology clinic in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Method: Using a qualitative method, seven adult trauma survivors who completed six sessions of brief PE for PTSD were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to identify relevant themes and to understand how participants perceived and experienced PE for PTSD. Results: The analysis yielded five themes, namely structure, obstacles, gender, exposure and experiences of recovery. Conclusion: The findings suggested that participants perceived and experienced PE to be generally beneficial for the treatment of PTSD. Moreover, the study suggested that PE is an acceptable trauma therapy in a contextually diverse setting such as the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Overall, considering the evidence base of PE for PTSD, this study contributed to the literature on the acceptability of PE in a South African setting. Contribution: The findings of the study are in keeping with the extant literature on how persons perceive and experience PE for PTSD. The findings of the study suggests that PE is an acceptable and beneficial trauma therapy for PTSD in a contextually diverse setting such as South Africa. It is recommended that large scale implementation studies be conducted to further investigate the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of PE in South Africa.https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1869low-resource communitypsychotherapypost-traumatic stress disorderprolonged exposuretrauma. |
| spellingShingle | Duane D. Booysen Ashraf Kagee Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinic South African Journal of Psychiatry low-resource community psychotherapy post-traumatic stress disorder prolonged exposure trauma. |
| title | Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinic |
| title_full | Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinic |
| title_fullStr | Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinic |
| title_short | Trauma survivors’ perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for PTSD at a psychology clinic |
| title_sort | trauma survivors perceptions and experiences of prolonged exposure for ptsd at a psychology clinic |
| topic | low-resource community psychotherapy post-traumatic stress disorder prolonged exposure trauma. |
| url | https://sajp.org.za/index.php/sajp/article/view/1869 |
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