British Psychological Society Special Offer! (September 2019)
The British Psychological Society is advocating an alternative to the DSM diagnostic model.
The alternative is called the PTM (Power, Threat, Meaning) Framework for determining the origins and maintenance of distress. This replaces the question at the heart of medicalisation, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ with four others:
What happened to you? (How has Power operated in your life?)
How did it affect you? (What kind of Threats does this pose?)
What sense did you make of it? (What is the Meaning of these situations and experiences to you?)
What did you have to do to survive? (What kinds of Threat Response are you using?)
It also asks: What are your strengths? (What access to Power Resources do you have?), and to integrate all these, ‘What is your story?’
The answers to these questions lead to evidenced-based patterns in distress, unusual experiences and troubled or troubling behaviour. Used in Phase 1, history taking, of the EMDR protocol this framework is a very useful tool for clarifying key events, cognitions, emotions and personal resources. The Framework maps onto the EMDR protocol extremely well.
The Society provides free copies of various key documents including, The Power Threat Meaning Framework Overview. A link to their website listing documents available is below. Mention that you come from emdrgateway.com if you order any of their materials.
Thank you.