"Clinicians often hold off on initiating trauma-focused treatment, waiting for a level of stability that is difficult to define. This pause is driven by a fear that engaging in trauma work will destabilize someone and cause harm."
"Avoidance accounts for 25% of the symptoms that make up a PTSD diagnosis. It can manifest as avoidance of external reminders of trauma, as well as thoughts and feelings associated with past experiences."
"When clinicians delay evidence-based care due to apprehension, they may inadvertently reinforce the very avoidance that maintains the symptoms they aim to treat."
Clinicians frequently overestimate the necessity for stabilization before initiating trauma-focused treatment, leading to unnecessary delays. Avoidance, rather than a lack of readiness, is a primary factor in PTSD symptoms and treatment postponement. Trauma-focused therapies can be effective without a prolonged stabilization phase. Readiness for treatment is determined by safety and engagement, not by the absence of symptoms or ambivalence. Delaying evidence-based care can inadvertently reinforce avoidance behaviors in clients, hindering their recovery process.
Read at Psychology Today
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