Women with PTSD: the psychodynamic aspects of psychopharmacologic and "hands-on" psychiatric management.

The article addresses the psychodynamic issues that influence the psychiatric treatment of women with PTSD. The focus is on the patient's response to the physical and nonverbal elements of treatment including hands-on touch and providing oral medications. The purpose is to help psychiatrists better understand and care for women with PTSD and the better manage the existing barriers to effective treatment. The neuroanatomy and neurobiology of PTSD will be discussed to illustrate the interface between: (1) the neural correlates of physical and sexual abuse and the presence of PTSD in adult women, and (2) the neurophysiologic pathway for healing through therapy aimed at empowering the trauma patient to take constructive action.