Comparing Treatment Outcome of Guided Imagery and Music and Psychodynamic Imaginative Trauma Therapy for Women with Complex PTSD

To investigate whether the use of recorded music enhances therapy outcome in psychodynamic trauma therapy for women with Complex PTSD, outcome measures of three groups of patients were compared. One group received 50 hours of outpatient trauma therapy with the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), another group received 50 hours of outpatient trauma therapy with Psychodynamic Imaginative Trauma Therapy (PITT). The third group was a waiting-list control group of women who had to wait at least nine months for therapy. The participants filled out questionnaires measuring symptoms of Complex PTSD, structural and somatoform dissociation, interpersonal problems, and factors promoting health before treatment and after 50 therapy hours or before and after waiting. Results showed significant differences in all scores when either of the treatment conditions was compared to the control group. Participants treated with GIM showed significantly better outcome in all measurements than participants treated with PITT. This indicates that the use of music is beneficial for women with Complex PTSD treated with psychodynamic trauma therapy.