Effectiveness of exposure therapy: A case study of posttraumatic stress disorder and mental retardation Original Research Article

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common disorder following sexual assault. There is significant empirical evidence that cognitive-behavioral interventions are efficacious in the treatment of PTSD. People with mental retardation (MR) often are victims of sexual assaults, but the presence of comorbid PTSD and MR was not found in the current literature. In addition, there is no evidence showing that any specific short-term intervention is effective in treating PTSD with comorbid MR. The present article describes a case study in which short-term exposure therapy following numerous sexual assaults was effective in reducing the symptoms of PTSD in a woman with comorbid MR.