Healing and Hypnotherapy Volume - 4, Issue - 5, 1 November 2019 | Page 18

and our intention is to bring more perspectives into the equation and debate
around how PTSD can be handled.
Psychological first aid in some form is considered an appropriate initial
intervention, but it does not serve a therapeutic or preventive function (Litz,
Gray et al. 2002). Also when first aid is mentioned in the case of
psychological trauma it is mainly focused on principles of safety such as
promoting a sense of safety, calming, self efficiency, connectedness and
hope (Wade, Howard et al. 2013). We propose a routine addition of a
symptom reducing technique like TTT that can be administered peer-to-
peer in areas and situations similar to that of Rwanda.
The fact that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is considered long
standing, even chronic is something we challenge (Hogberg, Pagani et al.
2008).
In our experience the symptoms will persist when untreated, but they can
be resolved with amygdala de potentiation as shown in research (Hong,
Song et al. 2009), and this is what we believe is achieved through sensory
exposure meth- ods like TTT (Ronald A. Ruden 2005).
One may debate allowing peer to peer, or laymen, administer rst aid for
symptoms of post-traumatic stress. The main fear in this case would be if a
person suffers an abreaction during treatment. In our experience TTT does
not involve abreactions of the kind that would require more qualified
administrators. Even if an abreaction would happen in the remote areas in
question, a rst aid method like TTT is probably the only available treatment
for miles around.
We consider it neglectful to refrain from spreading a tool like TTT that has
shown symptom reducing effect, since symptoms of PTSD such as
nightmares, intrusive thoughts, ash backs and others which are typically
experienced by individuals suffering from PTSD, can be transferred onto
their immediate surroundings in the form of a secondary trauma. Beyond
this, a family member’s PTSD is potentially transferable to subsequent