Hundreds of mental health professionals to learn pioneering PTSD treatment

On 10th March, 440 psychotherapists, psychologists and counsellors will gather at Birmingham University to attend a free, One Day Workshop delivered by Dr David Muss MD to learn The Rewind – a technique he originated that can help treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) patients effectively, quickly and cost-efficiently.

PTSD affects people from all walks of life – not just veterans from the Armed Forces – and is a psychiatric condition caused by life-threatening events. It is not clear why some people develop the condition and others do not. However, unresolved PTSD can result in domestic violence, imprisonment, drug abuse, alcoholism, unemployment, divorce and homelessness, with considerable social and financial implications1.

Dr David Muss MD, who for the past 20 years has held the position of Director of the PTSD Unit at the BMI Edgbaston Hospital, Birmingham and is Founder of the International Association for Rewind Trauma Therapy, intends between now and the end of 2019 to train 5000 therapists dedicated to treating trauma in the UK to use The Rewind –

In the UK, the incidence of PTSD is around 4.4% – twice the incidence of those with diabetes. In Northern Ireland alone, the incidence is 24%. Taken as a whole, that’s a staggering three million plus people who are said to be suffering from PTSD as a result of trauma.

Of those who currently do receive treatment (one and half million), 75% are treated with anti-depressants and 25% with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)2 or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)3 – the only two therapies recognised by NICE.

The reason Dr. Muss feels it is necessary to train at least another 5000 therapists is because there are only 5000 accredited CBT counsellors and some 600 EMDR trained therapists in the UK who are currently only reaching 25% of those who do get treatment.

If the current NICE recommended CBT and EMDR therapists were to adopt the Rewind they would easily double the number of patients requiring their help. That would still leave the other 1.5 million PTSD sufferers in the UK without access to therapy.‘With the current financial crisis in the NHS,’ he states, ‘it would be unimaginable to think that the Government could afford to train 5000 new Cognitive Behaviour Therapists (CBTs), though they could be encouraged to train in delivering the Rewind by attending a one day free seminar.