Imagery rescripting: A model for the treatment of traumatic grief

This paper considers the research on the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) along with that of traumatic grief. More specifically, Imagery Rescripting, (Smucker, Dancu, Foa & Niederee, 1995; Smucker & Niederee, 1994, 1995) a cognitive,...behavioral treatment for PTSD, is examined with respect to recent findings on efficacy of treatments for PTSD and literature specific to the (PTSD) symptom presentation associated with traumatic grief. The hypothesis that Imagery Rescripting provides a useful and justifiable framework for treatment of traumatic grief is presented. The components of the Imagery Rescripting treatment are used as a basis for critical review and discussion, with an intent to develop a model for the treatment of traumatic grief. The author concludes that the Imagery Rescripting model, as adapted and described in this paper, is a viable prototype for the cognitive-behavioral treatment of traumatic grief. i