Books / Cognitive & behavioural
Treating the Trauma of Rape: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for PTSD
In Treating the Trauma of Rape (1998), Edna B. Foa and Barbara Olasov Rothbaum present a cognitive-behavioural approach to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after rape.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Edna B. Foa and Barbara Olasov Rothbaum
Edition: 1st edition (1998)
Publisher: Guilford Press
Edition year: 1998
Language and origin: English (United States)
Form and genre: Treatment Manual & Clinical Guide
Level: Advanced
Historical era: 1980–2009 · Evidence-Based, Trauma & Integrative Era
Covers: Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy; Emotional processing theory and pathological fear structures; Imaginal exposure (revisiting and recounting the trauma memory); In vivo exposure to avoided safe situations
APA 7th reference: Foa, E. B., & Rothbaum, B. O. (1998). Treating the trauma of rape: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for PTSD. Guilford Press.
What it is & historical context
Foa and Rothbaum present a clinical approach to PTSD after rape that draws on emotional processing theory. The 1991 trial listed below preceded the book and compared several treatments in a small sample.
Core clinical themes & arguments
The approach considers trauma-related fear and avoidance. Emotional processing theory is a proposed account of how exposure may help, rather than a complete explanation of every person’s experience.
Clinical practice, reception & legacy
The 1991 trial assigned 45 rape survivors with PTSD to prolonged exposure, stress inoculation training, supportive counselling or a wait-list. Stress inoculation training showed greater improvement than supportive counselling and the wait-list on PTSD symptoms immediately after treatment; prolonged exposure showed the best PTSD symptom outcomes at the mean 3.5-month follow-up. This small study alone cannot establish durable superiority.
Reader level & educational scope
This advanced entry offers educational orientation, not treatment advice. The abstracts of the 1991 trial and the 1986 theory article were consulted; the full book was not reviewed.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Rape Victims: A Comparison Between Cognitive-Behavioral Procedures and Counseling (Edna B. Foa, Barbara Olasov Rothbaum, David S. Riggs, and Tamera B. Murdock, 1991)
Reference: Foa, E. B., Rothbaum, B. O., Riggs, D. S., & Murdock, T. B. (1991). Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in rape victims: A comparison between cognitive-behavioral procedures and counseling. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59(5), 715–723.
A 1991 randomised trial assigned 45 rape survivors with PTSD to prolonged exposure, stress inoculation training, supportive counselling or a wait-list. Results varied by measure and assessment; mean follow-up was 3.5 months.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: Foa and Kozak proposed that emotional processing involves modifying fear-related memory structures by introducing information incompatible with them. (This is the authors’ theoretical account of fear processing, not an explanation established for every person with PTSD.) [Source 3: Foa, E. B., & Kozak, M. J. (1986). Emotional processing of fear: Exposure to corrective information. Psychological Bulletin, 99(1), 20–35.]
Claim 2: The book describes a cognitive-behavioural approach to assessing and treating PTSD after rape. (This describes the treatment model; individual responses vary.) [Source 1: Foa, E. B., & Rothbaum, B. O. (1998). Treating the trauma of rape: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for PTSD. Guilford Press.]
Sources and inspection notes
Supports: Publisher description of the book and its clinical focus; the full book was not reviewed.
Supports: Abstract of the 1991 randomised trial, including the sample and follow-up.
Supports: Original article, including its abstract describing the proposed account of emotional processing of fear.