Description:
This workshop will include an introduction to the theoretical underpinnings and supporting evidence for PE, an in-depth instruction of the protocol sessions, demonstrations with video- recorded materials from actual cases, participant use of the therapy materials and role plays, and discussion of common problems for discussion. The workshop is appropriate for psychologists, social workers, counselors, physicians, other healthcare professionals, and students in these fields.
Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) is an evidenced-based, manualized protocol effective for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Numerous well-controlled studies over the past two decades have shown that PE significantly reduces the symptoms of PTSD as well as co-morbid symptoms of depression, anger and anxiety. Besides reducing symptoms, PE also instills confidence and a sense of mastery. Clients are better able to discriminate safe and unsafe situations, and experience improvement in many areas of daily functioning.
About Elizabeth Hembree, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Hembree, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, at the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Penn psychiatry faculty for 15 years, Dr. Hembree’s research and clinical work has been primarily focused in the area of anxiety disorders and on the psychological impact of trauma, the treatment of individuals with trauma-related disorders, and the dissemination of cognitive behavioral treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She was a faculty member in the Center for the Treatment & Study of Anxiety (CTSA), where Prolonged Exposure (PE) was developed, for 20 years, and served as Director of Clinical Training in the CTSA from 1999-2009.
Between 2009 and 2013 Dr. Hembree served as Director of Clinical Services of Penn Psychiatry Department’s Center for Couples and Adult Families. She has frequently provided workshop trainings in cognitive behavioral treatment of PTSD both in the US and abroad. Her expertise in trauma and PTSD has benefited the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense in their efforts to train their mental health workers to provide effective, evidenced based treatments to men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as veterans of prior wars. She has published numerous articles and book chapters in the PTSD area.
Dr. Hembree's page at Perelman School of Medicine