Affiliation:
1. Central Virginia Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System, 1201 Broad Rock Blvd, Richmond, VA 23249, USA
2. Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23298, USA
Abstract
Irrational beliefs of Demandingness, Catastrophizing, Low Frustration Tolerance, and Depreciation have demonstrated prevalence in disparate areas of life, including psychopathology, the military, politics, religion, and education. Individuals with mental health concerns, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), endorse elevations in such thoughts compared to the general population. This commentary describes the rationale for focusing on irrational beliefs in efforts to address PTSD and presents the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)-Informed Group for PTSD as a potential novel application of a well-established intervention. In support of these suggestions, we present a narrative review of the published work on irrational beliefs and REBT tenets as relevant for PTSD. We then introduce and describe the REBT-Informed Group intervention, summarize the prior preliminary research conducted by our group, and present some novel data from a re-analysis of this prior work. We end with commentary related to future directions of REBT approaches for PTSD to address limitations and expand the impact of the treatment to military and other Veteran or civilian populations.
Funder
National Institutes of Health
resources and the use of facilities at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System, Richmond, Virginia
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