What is Imaginal Exposure Scene

Mental health professionals are only recently beginning to understand the risks for stress-related disorders experienced by first responders. For example, it is clear that first responders are at increased risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Unfortunately, clinicians currently have a limited repertoire with which to treat these disorders. Treatments for PTSD have been developed for use with military patients, for the most part. It is not clear that these treatments are appropriate, and effective, for first responders. In this chapter, the authors describe a pilot study designed to evaluate whether one specific treatment approach creates similar clinical outcomes for first responders as have been observed for a military sample. The results indicate that clinical outcomes for first responders were nearly identical as those obtained with military personnel. The results are discussed in terms of future directions for research in this area.