O4: Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapy Implications for Treatment of PTSD

Cognitive rehabilitation therapy is an effective therapeutic program to restore functioning and compensate cognitive deficits of numbers of involved traumatic brain injury individuals as well as many psychiatric patients, of them PTSD in particular. Specific skills and metacognitive strategies help patients to create self-awareness and learn how to monitor these skills. Metacognitive training improves patients’ ability to think about their own thoughts and behaviours. It may build upon brain trauma involving memory, executive functions, attention activities, planning, and thought processing’s. Improvement of quality of life in term of person’s ability to care for him, complete tasks and interact with people is anticipated by implementation of CRT program. Community service programs such as supporting family, employment, education, health care, recreation and so, as a part of CRT program can be stimulated and promoted. Co-occurring known or unknown traumatic brain injury and PTSD can affect treatment of patients. Impairments in attention, concentration and memory, self-destructive or reckless behaviour as well as personality changes, reduced range of affects make PTSD treatment difficult. The recommendations proffered for treatment of these syndromes are informed by the researches for PTSD treatment by CRT.