Narrative Exposure Therapy.
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) was originally developed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Elbert, PD. Dr. Maggie Schauer and Prof. Dr. Frank Neuner to treat mental consequences of trauma and violence, namely posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociation, depression and other related conditions in humanitarian settings. Over the past 20 years, NET has been thoroughly researched and established as evidence-based psychotherapy. Since 2018, we have started to deliver NET in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro).
NET is…
brief.
Narrative Exposure Therapy consists of 8-12 sessions of approximately 1-2 hours each. A session usually takes place weekly. Together with the therapist or counselor, the client re-lives her or his traumatic experiences in a safe and private therapeutic environment. Patients may suffer from multiple traumatization or perpetration and aggression.
effective.
More than 56 scientific studies have shown that Narrative Exposure Therapy is effectively treating symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and common comorbid problems, including aggression. Effectiveness was shown to increase in long term follow-ups. Biological effects at the immune system or epigenetic level have further supported this mounting evidence.
disseminable.
Professionals from the health and social sector can learn Narrative Exposure Therapy in the training of 1-2 weeks with subsequent supervision. Besides theoretical learning, role-plays allow trainees to process their own traumatic experiences to adopt adequate actions in their practice. Effectiveness is not hampered across dissemination stages.
adaptations of NET.
KIDNET: for children and adolescents (Schauer et al., 2017)
FORNET: for forensic offender rehabilitation (Elbert et al., 2012, Robjant et al., 2019)
NETfacts: for communities
NETworks worldwide
our favourite publications.
about NET.
NET manual [English]: Schauer et al. (2011)
NET effectiveness: a meta-analysis study [English]: Siehl et al. (2020)
NET review and evidence [German]: Jacob et al. (2017), [English] Elbert et al. (2015)
symptom trajectory during NET: Kaltenbach et al. (2020)
implications of NET in low-resource settings: Cooper et al. (2019)
biological effects of NET: Adenauer et al. (2011), Morath et al. (2014), Carleial et al. (in review)
FORNET: Robjant et al. (2019), Hinsberger et al. (2020), Koebach et al. (2021)
NETfacts pilot study: Schmitt et al. (submitted)
did you know?
Ongoing violence is driven by trauma related mental health issues
Add insult to injury: stigma reinforces trauma related mental illness