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Trauma and Substance Abuse: A Clinician’s Guide to Treatment

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Evidence Based Treatments for Trauma-Related Psychological Disorders

Abstract

Substance use disorder (SUD) frequently co-occurs with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma symptoms broadly. This comorbidity is clinically important, with research showing that it signifies a more difficult course of recovery and greater impairment than either disorder alone. The presence of SUD also impacts how PTSD is addressed in treatment. The whole is not the sum of its parts—addressing PTSD/SUD is not simply about applying treatments for each, but requires conceptualization of how each disorder affects the other and how to engage in successful strategies to address each without worsening the other. It is like a seesaw that needs careful balancing to prevent tipping too far to one side.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA, USA

    Lisa M. Najavits

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 02118, USA

    Lisa M. Najavits

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  1. Lisa M. Najavits
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Correspondence to Lisa M. Najavits .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Ulrich Schnyder

  2. Dissemination & Training Division, National Center for PTSD, San Franciso, California, USA

    Marylène Cloitre

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Najavits, L.M. (2015). Trauma and Substance Abuse: A Clinician’s Guide to Treatment. In: Schnyder, U., Cloitre, M. (eds) Evidence Based Treatments for Trauma-Related Psychological Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07109-1_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07109-1_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-07108-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-07109-1

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