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brief psychotherapy

any form of psychotherapy intended to achieve positive change during a short period (generally 10–20 sessions). Brief psychotherapies rely on active techniques of inquiry, focus, and goal setting and tend to be symptom specific. They may be applied on an individual or group level and are used in the treatment of a variety of behavioral and emotional problems. There are numerous different types, such as brief cognitive behavior therapy, brief play therapy, brief psychodynamic psychotherapy, focal psychotherapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy. Also called short-term psychotherapy. Compare intensive psychotherapy.

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Psychology term of the day

January 30th 2025

trauma management therapy

trauma management therapy

a treatment program intended to alleviate the anxiety and fear, manage the anger, and enhance the interpersonal functioning of combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is a sequential multicomponent approach that combines (a) education, in which the client is informed about the symptom chronicity, skill deficits, and extreme social maladjustment associated with PTSD; (b) exposure therapy, in which the client reexperiences—in imagination or through virtual reality—his or her specific traumatic event during individually administered weekly sessions; (c) programmed practice, in which the client performs exposure-related homework assigned by the therapist; and (d) socioemotional rehabilitation, in which the client participates in structured, group-administered social and emotional skills training sessions. [developed in 1996 by clinical psychologists B. Christopher Frueh (1963–  ), Samuel M. Turner (1944–2005), Deborah C. Beidel, and Robert F. Mirabella and health administrator and political scientist Walter J. Jones]