Imagery rescripting in the treatment of posttraumatic stress: Analysis and review

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has many effective psychotherapeutic treatment alternatives. Within these, one of the less known in the Spanish language is the Imagery Rescripting (IR). The present study aims to characterize IR and conduct a systematic review on their efficacy in PTSD treatment. IR is a young technique intended to change memories or mental representations that are aversive to the patients. IR has shown efficacy in addressing those problems related to aversive memories and encapsulated beliefs. Regarding the implementation of the IR in PTSD, the results of this study indicate that it is effective but, in general, not more than exposure techniques. It is concluded that IR is less aversive to patients than exposure techniques and their mechanisms of action are still unknown.