Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) For Survivors of Traumatic Stress

Extensive evidence shows that six to twelve sessions of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) can be sufficient to provide considerable relief from events such as organized violence, torture, war, rape, and childhood abuse. The new manual is clearly structured and easy to follow, and includes new figures that help illustrate and guide the reader through the steps of NET. The theoretical sections offer a solid basis for carrying out the therapeutic intervention. The reader will learn the NET approach step by step, with robust and straightforward practical advice and tools, including how to deal with challenging situations, e.g., how to go deeper when faced with the challenging dynamics of remembering trauma, and how to manage dissociation, avoidance, strong emotions, lost memories, or the sudden emergence of unexpected recollections from the past. NET therapy conversations and resulting narrations from trauma scenes demonstrate the level of Narrative Exposure details required. Finally, the importance of reading back the testimony to the individual is explained. A new section on the variations of NET details how to offer KIDNET for children and young people, FORNET for victims of trauma who are perpetrators of violence, NETfacts for communities, and ElderNET for older adults as well as online NET (eNET). Experienced therapists also get an idea of how NET is typically trained and how to facilitate NET exercises. Downloadable resources for use in clinical practice include handouts, examples of narrations, and a checklist for adverse life events. This book is an invaluable resource for clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, counselors, crisis workers, social workers, health workers, and physicians.

Maggie Schauer, PhD, is a psychotraumatologist at the University of Konstanz, Germany. Together with Frank Neuner and Thomas Elbert, she has developed Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). Maggie is a founding member of the NGO vivo international, of the NGO BabyForum (counteracting neglect and maltreatment in early childhood), and of the NET Institute. She is constantly training the next generations of psychotherapists and mental health professionals, as well as psychosocial skills to support survivors of trauma.

Frank Neuner, PhD, is the head of the Clinical Psychology Department at Bielefeld University, including the university's outpatient clinic. He has gained international reputation for the co-development of NET. Frank published the first randomized treatment trial for posttraumatic stress disorder with refugees living in a war region, which was followed by a series of wide published randomized controlled trials of his working group.

Thomas Elbert, PhD, specializes in research on the consequences of social and traumatic stress. He has conducted laboratory and clinical studies as well as field studies and care projects directly in conflict areas. Moreover, his research team has asked what motivates people to perpetrate violence, whether domestic or in organized groups. Thomas is a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, and the Academia Europaea.