Principles of Trauma Therapy: A Guide to Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment

"This is a solid basic reference on the subject. Maybe I underestimated what I already knew about trauma therapy, but I was hoping for a bit more. I would recommend this book to anyone just starting out in learning about trauma therapy. It's sophisticated; don't get me wrong! And this guy is the Master. I was just looking to go deeper into the subtleties of working with people dealing with trauma issues. And more on childhood sexual abuse would have been welcome."
~ Written on 2008-08-15

"One of the best books out there on Trauma. Written more for professionals, it is worth a read for anyone else truly interested in learning about trauma and treatment. It's not a self-help book, but could be a valuable resource for someone seeking treatment or seeking to understand a loved one suffering from the impact of trauma.

For professionals, this book is essential if you work with clients/patients with significant trauma issues. "
~ Written on 2008-07-20

"...I have listened to John Briere's CDs and attended a two day workshop. As far as I can tell, he is the number one for trauma. His model has basically defined the model I use for talking treatment for trauma. To me he has been much more helpful than, for example, Edna Foa, Ellert Nijenhuis, Christine Courtois or Colin Ross. For me, he's up there with Marcia Linehan. Of course, I have not read even a small fraction of what most of the above authors have written."
~ Written on 2008-06-03

"If you need a way to update yourself on the latest methods for treatment of trauma victims, this is the book for you. It covers trauma from many areas including everything from car accidents to war zone trauma."
~ Written on 2008-04-05

" Briere has done a very good job of summarizing research and practice regarding the treatment of trauma. His clinical suggestions are clear, specific, and useful for the clinician.
The major concern I had about the book was that his theoretical underpinning is behavioral, and to a lesser extent cognitive-behavioral. As a result, he ends up at times explaining highly complex phenomena in simple, stimulus-response terms. For example, his conceptualization of the intense emotions experienced during a flashback, or re-experiencing, of a trauma is referred to throughout the book as a "Conditioned Emotional Response." Even the complex set of intersubjective experiences of the patient and therapist are explained within a stimulus-response model. (I was reminded of the early attempt to explain psychoanalysis in behavioral terms by Dollard and Miller.)
Briere also gives very short shrift (less than a page) to the work in EMDR that has proved so useful, albeit controversial, and shows limited understanding of this technique. He is correct, though, to point out that other exposure therapies may work just as well.
Despite these shortcomings, I recommend this book as a very worthwhile addition to the clinician's library because Briere provides a very useful breakdown of the stages of treatment of the victims of trauma, with illustrative examples that render his points in a very clear and concrete manner.
The reader can add his/her own theoretical explanations for the usefulness of his clinical methods.

Leonard S. Stein, Ph.D.



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~ Written on 2007-12-30