COGNITIVE MODELS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS

Abstract

Cognitive conceptualizations of posttraumatic stress focus on the role of the subjective component in processing and interpretation of traumatic experiences. The collision between preexisting beliefs about oneself and the world with the traumatic event, the impaired information and emotional processing of the trauma and the specific system of traumatic memory are few of the basic mechanisms that these models use to explain the development of posttraumatic consequences. The paper discusses the strengths and limitations of several cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as their implications for psychotherapy.