A clinician's guide to STAIR/MPE: Treatment for PTSD related to childhood abuse

Women who have PTSD related to childhood abuse have significant deficits in the areas of emotion regulation and interpersonal skills. These problems are associated with impaired functioning in social, work, and home life. In addition, there is substantial clinical concern that limited emotion-regulation skills puts this population at risk for early dropout and symptom exacerbation in treatment focusing on emotional processing of traumatic memories. Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation plus Modified Prolonged Exposure (STAIR/MPE) is an evidence-based, 2-phase cognitive behavioral treatment designed to address these concerns. Specifically, this treatment targets PTSD symptoms, emotion-regulation deficits, and interpersonal difficulties. The purpose of this article is to describe the rationale for and clinical application of STAIR/MPE, detailing the essential clinical components and presenting relevant case examples.