The assessment and treatment of post-traumatic stress using the Impact of Events Scale
MENA Dubai 2003 Abstract
Author Dawn McBride
Copy Working with individuals who have experienced extreme stress can be challenging, particularly if the counsellor does not have an extensive range of counselling strategies to guide the treatment. This presentation will introduce how the widely used post-traumatic stress scale – The Impact of Events Scale (Horowitz et al., 1979) – can be used as a counselling intervention. The presentation will begin with a brief overview of the scale including how to score the one page scale. Comments will be made on how the scale can be adapted to fit within the culture it is being administered in. The remainder of the presentation will address how to use the results from the scale to form a treatment plan to reduce the intrusive symptoms related to the traumatic event. Handouts and time for questions will be provided.