A trauma-focused individual therapy approach for adolescents with conduct disorder

Trauma is proposed as a key to understanding the development and persistenc e of conduct disorder in conjunction with other contributing factors. Traum a history is virtually universal in this population, and trauma effects can help to account form many features of the disorder including lack of empat hy, impulsivity, angel; acting out, and resistance to treatment. The curren t standard of care fails to fully address trauma, which may partially expla in the low success rate. A trauma-focused individual therapy approach is pr esented as one example of how this population might be more effectively tre ated. This approach features motivational interviewing, self-control traini ng, and trauma resolution and integrates eye movement desensitization and r eprocessing (EMDR). Two illustrative case examples are presented and discus sed.