Treating Complex Trauma in Adolescents and Young Adults

John N. Briere, PhD is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, and is past director of the Psychological Trauma Program at Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center. A past president of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), he is recipient of the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Science of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association, the Robert S. Laufer Memorial Award for Scientific Achievement from ISTSS, the Presidential Award for Contribution to Methods from the Association for Scientific Advancement in Psychological Injury and Law, and the William N. Friedrich Lecturer: Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Child Psychology from the Mayo Clinic. A long-term student of Buddhist psychology, he has been Remote Faculty at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy since 2013.Cheryl B. Lanktree, Ph.D. is Project Director of the USC Adolescent Trauma Training Center, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Southern California, and a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice. The developer of Integrative Treatment of Complex Trauma (ITCT), she has published various articles, chapters, treatment manuals, and books on treating complex trauma in children and adolescents. Her website is cblanktree.com.

• Acknowledgements1. IntroductionSection I: Complex Trauma Outcomes and Assessment2. Complex Trauma in Adolescence and Young Adulthood3. Assessment4. Completing and Using the Assessment-Treatment Flowchart for Adolescents (ATF-A)Section II: Overview of Treatment5. Central Aspects of ITCT-A6. From Assessment to Intervention: The Problems-to-Components Grid (PCG)7. Sequence and Session-Level Structure of ITCT-ASection III: Treatment Components8. Relationship Building and Support9. Safety Interventions10. Psychoeducation11. Distress Reduction and Affect Regulation Training12. Cognitive Processing13. Trigger Identification and Intervention14. Titrated Exposure15. Relational Processing16. Interventions for Identity Issues17. Family Therapy18. Interventions With Caretakers19. Group Sessions20. Three Case Examples21. Treatment Outcome Results22. SummaryReferencesSection IV: AppendicesAppendix I: Intitial Trauma Review- Adolescent Version (ITR-A)Appendix II: ATF-A Assessment LocatorAppendix III: Assessment- Treatment Flowchart: Adolescent Version (ATF-A)Appendix IV: Problems-to-Components Grid (PCG)Appendix V: Written Homework About My TraumaAppendix VI: What Triggers Me? (The Trigger Grid)Appendix VII: Outlines for Two ITCT-A Therapy Groups

"This is a very concise, well-structured and comprehensive guide for the assessment and treatment of complex trauma in adolescents. It provides thorough descriptions of the multiple levels of interventions that are needed in order to facilitate therapeutic progress and re-establish healthy development in adolescents with histories of early traumatization. In addition, the model provides some practical tools that facilitate the implementation of appropriate strategies at different stages of treatment."