Written Exposure Therapy to Improve Recovery Among Sexual Assault Survivors

During session one of the written exposure therapy intervention, the therapist will provide psychoeducation about PTSD and the rationale for the proposed intervention. Psychoeducation and treatment rationale are scripted to ensure consistency. The therapist will provide the participant with instructions for writing about the same trauma memory (their recent sexual assault) during each session. They will be asked to look back at the event and write for 30 minutes about the details of the event including what they saw, heard, felt, smelled, etc. without regard for spelling or grammar. The participant will self-report Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) levels to the therapist at the beginning and end of each session. After 30 minutes, the therapist will ask the participant to stop writing, review the experience of writing and discuss as needed, and conclude the session.

During the unemotional writing sessions, the therapist will read instructions for writing about non-emotional topics. The participant will be instructed to describe what they did the day before the session from the time they woke up until the time they went to bed, as objectively as possible, without regard for spelling or grammar. The therapist will then leave the participant with a written version of the instructions for 30 minutes while the participant writes. The participant will self report Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) levels to the therapist at the beginning and end of each session. After 30 minutes, the therapist will ask the participant to stop writing, review the experience of writing and discuss as needed, and conclude the session.