Written Exposure Therapy (WET) is a brief, structured, trauma-focused psychotherapy for PTSD that uses written exposure to the participant’s index trauma.
It is designed for non-psychologists.
It begins with psychoeducation and a treatment rationale, then proceeds to scripted, protocolized written exposure. Typical delivery consists of five ~45-minute sessions: 30 minutes of writing, 10 minutes of debriefing, and a 5-minute feedback slot before the final session, with the first session being longer to provide psychoeducation.
Early sessions focus on detailed trauma description; later sessions address the trauma’s impact on the individual’s life.
After each writing period, the therapist briefly discusses the experience but does not engage in cognitive processing or additional exposure, and there is no between-session homework.
The participants are advised not to avoid uncomfortable emotions after each therapy and to avoid using substances as part of that avoidance. There are more than eight randomised trials attesting to its effectiveness, whether the trauma be related to motor vehicle injury, personal or sexual violence, and war or disaster scenarios.
Where: Online via Zoom
Contact: Nathalie – [email protected] / 021 066 9811
For more information and to register – please visit the website:
FAQs
About the Presenter Prof Bruce Arroll
Bruce is a Professor of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland New Zealand and was a practising GP in Manurewa in South Auckland for 32 years .
He now does regular general practice at the Auckland City Mission (Calder Clinic) and also does special consultations using Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) for people who are feeling stuck in their lives by stress, pain or low energy. He does this work with his own patients and those referred from his clinic colleagues as well as for people outside of the clinic.
Learning Outcomes
It is a protocol-driven intervention designed to be used by clinicians who do not have clinical psychology training but do work with mental and distress health. The intervention includes five sessions of 30 minutes of writing in detail about what happened and what were the emotional reactions to the trauma(s). The client does not need to disclose the traumatic event verbally, but part of the intervention is that the therapist has to read what has been written before the next session. This is to ensure the client is writing in specific detail. While clients feel more stressed at the end of the first visit, this is expected and means they are dealing with the most bothersome trauma. By the third or fourth session, the client is finding they are viewing their trauma differently and have a new perspective on it and how it has affected their lives.
Who Should Attend
This 6 hour workshop is specifically designed for therapists from diverse professional backgrounds, including those outside of psychology.
March, 2026
Friday
August 26,2019
- Tuesday
- 9:00am - 10:00am
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