Many psychological treatments for PTSD are available. These treatments are often classified as being either cognitive behavioral or psychodynamic in nature. For those people seeking treatment, it is important to know the difference between cognitive behavior therapy (also referred to as CBT) and psychodynamic psychotherapy as there are some major distinctions between these two approaches.
Cognitive behavioral treatments are based on the idea that problems arise as a result of the way people interpret or evaluate situations, thoughts and feelings, as well as the problematic ways these evaluations cause people to act (for example, through avoidance).
Examples of cognitive-behavioral therapies for PTSD specifically are exposure therapy, stress-inoculation training, cognitive processing therapy, behavioral activation and Acceptance and Commitment therapy.
Psychodynamic approaches, on the other hand, focus on numerous factors that may influence or cause a person's symptoms, such as early childhood experiences (particularly our attachment to our parents), current relationships and the things people do (often without being aware of it) to protect themselves from upsetting thoughts and feelings (otherwise referred to as "defense mechanisms").
Unlike CBT, psychodynamic psychotherapy emphasizes the unconscious mind, where upsetting feelings, urges and thoughts that are too painful for us to directly look at are housed. Even though these painful feelings, urges and thoughts are outside of our awareness, they still influence our behavior.
Although CBT and psychodynamic psychotherapy are somewhat different, both want to bring about changes in behavior. It is just that the road they take to get there is different.
