Danielle Davis

Title: Examining the Trauma Narratives of Female Assault Victims with Chronic PTSD: A Comparison between Two Trajectories of Recovery

Abstract: This study examines the trauma narratives of 30 female sexual assault victims with chronic PTSD. Each patient's early, middle and late session of prolonged exposure therapy administered at the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety in Philadelphia were transcribed word for word (a total of 90 tapes). Each transcript was then coded using Edna Foa's Content Analysis System, categorizing utterance units into thoughts, feelings, actions, sensations, facts, and additionaly dialogues and details. The 30 subjects selected in this study are part of a larger study examining treatment outcome, thus measures of PTSD severity were collected after each session at the time of the origninal study. The results of these PTSD outcome measures were used in this study to identify 15 subjects who showed recovery after completing 9 sessions of prolonged exposure therapy, and 15 subjects who showed recovery after 12 sessions. A comparative analysis of the two groups' narratives will be conducted in order to determine if narratives relate to one's trajectory of recovery.