New Short-Term Relational Therapy Developing for
Combat-Related PTSD

Russell Carr, a psychiatrist in the United States Navy stationed at the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, is developing a new short-term relational approach to combat-related PTSD. As a service member himself who treats combat veterans on a daily basis, Dr. Carr has recognized the need for a brief relational approach that can thrive in a military environment where therapists and patients frequently move.

An initial article on it was just published in the October 2011 issue of Psychoanalytic Psychology (Vol. 28 (4), pp. 471-496), and called “Combat and Human Existence.” It is based largely on an intersubjective understanding of trauma. The article outlines the theoretical underpinnings and proposed phases of the approach. It also gives a case example of a soldier whom Dr. Carr treated while deployed to Iraq. You can find an abstract about the paper at: here

Dr. Carr hopes to test this approach empirically in order for it to gain wide acceptance and to enter eventually into Clinical Practice Guidelines alongside cognitive therapies. He also hopes to disseminate it by creating a much more extensive, jargon-free description of it that can be taught to those with minimal prior exposure to relational psychoanalytic ideas. For those who want to learn more about this approach or who want to contribute to developing it further with Dr. Carr, please contact him at Russell.carr@med.navy.mil.

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