While we all know that support for dealing with difficulties in life is significant. Common sense would tell us the same applies to those who are going through PTSD therapy.
However, the kind of support is very important when it is PTSD. Should it be accommodating the needs of the person when they find treatment difficult, letting them stay at home, not attend PTSD therapy? Is encouraging them to face their fears and distress the best thing?
Research published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (2019) demonstrated that encouraging someone undergoing PTSD therapy to face their fears and distress was important to positive outcomes. Meis and her colleagues (2019) examined veterans undergoing PTSD treatment and they found that:
“veterans who reported their loved ones encouraged them to face distress were twice as likely to remain in PTSD treatment than veterans who denied such encouragement.”
Reference
Meis, L. A., Noorbaloochi, S., Hagel Campbell, E. M., Erbes, C. R., Polusny, M. A., Velasquez, T. L., . . . Spoont, M. R. (2019). Sticking it out in trauma-focused treatment for PTSD: It takes a village. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 87(3), 246-256.
