Speaker: Prof. Birgit Kleim, University of Zurich

Time: 10:00-11:30, Oct. 10, 2019

Venue: #1206, Wangkezhen Building, Peking University

Abstract: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common and thus prevalent disorder after experiencing trauma, leading to significant personal as well as societal costs. Big strides have thus been taken to develop effective treatments for PTSD and other trauma-related disorders, such as anxiety and depression. In this talk, I will present an update on current evidence-based psychological treatments of PTSD. This will include new recommendations from international and the most recent German-speaking treatment guideline (due to be published this winter). These guidelines concur in recommending trauma-focused treatment as first-line treatment for PTSD. I will illustrate how these treatments work and elucidate some of their active ingredients. The field of PTSD treatment has also been a pacesetter for new developments, including virtual reality exposure therapy, or pharmacology augmented memory modulation procedures. I will touch on these novel developments and highlight how such new accomplishments will help further improve treatment for PTSD and how such treatments could be personalized.

Bio: Prof. Birgit Kleim is Professor of Psychopathology and Psychotherapy at University of Zurich. She got her PhD degree from King's College London in 2006 under the mentorship of Anke Ehlers. Prof. Birgit Kleim's main research focuses on understanding active psychotherapy mechanisms to augment its effectiveness with focus on anxiety and trauma-related disorders, as well as on understanding why some people succumb to stress while others are resilient. She has published papers on journals including Nature Human Behavior, JAMA Psychiatry, Sleep etc. Please refer to the attachment for details.

Host: Prof. Xiaolin Zhou, Prof. Yinyin Zang

2019-10-07