Brief Therapy of the Stress Response Syndrome

Abstract

The liaison psychiatrist is frequently called upon to assess the psychological response to loss. He may see a patient in consultation who has been in a catastrophic accident, had a surgical loss of a body part, or is coping with the news of a fatal illness. The medical treatment team may ask more general questions about providing support to patients fearfully anticipating surgery or to bereaved relatives. An understanding of the pattern of the stress response syndrome as an organizing conceptual model can help the liaison psychiatrist to suggest appropriate strategies for primary prevention (Caplan, 1961), intervention, and referral. In this chapter we will discuss the nature of response to a sudden traumatic event and then describe a study of young women after hysterectomy to illustrate its applicability to medical practice. We will outline the strategy for brief psychotherapy for stress response syndromes for those patients who are referred for treatment.*