Refreshing, Necessary Exposure to the Problem With Exposure Therapies for Trauma: Commentary on Rubenstein et al. (2024)

• Published in: The American psychologist 2024-04, Vol.79 (3), p.344-346
• Main Author: Brown, Laura S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety disorders; Dropping out; Exposure Therapy; Hegemony; Neurobiology; Psychotherapy; Responses; Trauma; Traumatic incidents; Traumatic life events
• ISSN: 0003-066X; 1935-990X
• DOI: 10.1037/amp0001241

In this invited commentary, I address what I see as the major contributions Rubenstein et al. (2024) have made to challenging the hegemony of exposure therapies for trauma-exposed persons. These include a thorough review of the history of the rise of exposure therapies, the identification of posttrauma responses as forms of anxiety disorders, and an extensive discussion of the neurobiology of the trauma response. Additionally, Rubenstein et al. expose the very high dropout rates in studies of exposure therapies and ways in which many traumatized people have not found them helpful. This article brings the so-called "gold standard" back to its rightful position as one possible, occasionally helpful way of assisting some, but not all, traumatized people.