PTSD-8: A Short PTSD Inventory

Traumatic events pose great challenges on mental health services in scarcity of specialist trauma clinicians and services. Simple short screening instruments for detecting adverse psychological responses are needed. Several brief screening instruments have been developed. However, some are limited, especially in relation to reflecting the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. Recently, several studies have challenged pre-existing ideas about PTSD’s latent structure. Factor analytic research currently supports two four factor models. One particular model contains a dysphoria factor which has been associated with depression and anxiety. The symptoms in this factor have been hailed as less specific to PTSD. The scope of this article is therefore to present a short screening instrument, based on this research; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) – 8 items. The PTSD-8 is shown to have good psychometric properties in three independent samples of whiplash patients (n=1710), rape victims (n=305), and disaster victims (n=516). Good test-rest reliability is also shown in a pilot study of young adults from families with alcohol problems (n=56)

A Diary-Based, Cross-Contextual Case Study Methodology: Background for the Case of "Jane and Joe"

This paper describes the epistemological, theoretical, and methodological background and context of the therapy case study, “The Case of 'Jane and Joe': A Diary-Based, Cross-Contextual Case Study" (Mackrill, 2011). The “Jane and Joe” case study served as the “raw data” of a “jury trial model” analysis, also published in this journal by Bohart, Tallman, Byock, and Mackrill (2011). The Joe and Jane case study is one of eight researched as a series with a method inspired by postmodern-oriented movements in phenomenology, post-positivism, hermeneutics, social constructionism, and action research. Specifically, the method used in analyzing the Jane and Joe case study involved the client (Jane) and therapist (Joe) following a set of diary writing guidelines for a series of 10 therapy sessions, which were audio-recorded. The therapist wrote about his experience of the sessions, and the client wrote both about her experience of the sessions, and about her new and different experiences between sessions. After the 10 sessions were competed, Joe and Jane exchanged diaries at the end of the eleventh session, and the twelfth session was dedicated to responding to the experience of reading each other’s diaries. The diaries and recordings were then passed on to me as the researcher for analysis. My draft analysis of the Jane and Joe case study was next sent to Jane and Joe for comment so misinterpretations could be corrected. Jane and Joe’s amendments were then incorporated into the final case study, which is published in this journal (Mackrill, 2011).  The analysis of the audio recordings and the diaries followed a systematic series of procedures within a particular theoretical framework. The framework has three major dimensions: (a) a postmodern emphasis on the patient and therapist's experiences and phenomenology as they dynamically interact with one another (McLeod, 2010); (b) a postmodern emphasis on the development of the client's sense of agency during the therapeutic process; and (c) in line with Dreier's (2008) theory of cross-contextual influences, an emphasis on the importance of cross-contextual transactions between the client's experience inside and outside of therapy during the time of the therapy

The Case of "Jane and Joe": A Diary-Based, Cross-Contextual Case Study

This case study of the client "Jane" seen by the therapist "Joe" is an unpublished part of my dissertation (Mackrill, 2008). Jane's presenting problems included: (1) memories that bother her on a daily basis, and Jane’s sense of vulnerability in relation to these; (2) Jane’s experience of being very sensitive; (3) Jane’s low self-esteem; and (4) Jane’s insecurity with regard to close relationships with men. Joe's theoretical orientation in treating Jane was humanistic and existential. The case study is based on (a) diaries that the client and therapist wrote after each session, (b) recordings of the 12 therapy sessions, and (c) feedback from Jane and Joe on initial drafts of the case study. In the first few pages of the case study Mackrill identifies the concepts he utilized in organizing the data. These are based on a contextual view of behavior. In order to understand change in therapy one must look at the client’s behavior and experiences across life contexts (Dreier, 2008). Specific organizing concepts utilized in writing up the case included focusing on the client’s point of view in different contexts; the difference among points of view of the participants; and identifying shifts in perspective when they occurred. The write-up steered clear of an analysis in terms of theoretical mechanisms of change based on any particular theory of psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral, existential, or psychodynamic. The methodology behind this case is presented in Mackrill (2011). .