Two Case Reports: Using Simulated Reattachment to Treat Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder and PTSD

These case reports focus on a rapid treatment for persistent complex bereavement disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which appears to activate the mirror neuron network. Simulated reattachment is a technique which has been found to repair phantom limb pain in just a few sessions. The same neuroplasticity that accomplishes phantom pain relief has been found to occur in the treatment of complicated grief and PTSD using similar methods. The simulated reattachment for the client in Case one was found to significantly reduce the symptoms of both complicated grief and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) within one session. In Case two, symptoms of PTSD and depression were significantly reduced in a client with lupus after two sessions of simulated reattachment. In addition, inflammatory markers antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA) and C-reactive protein (CRP) declined from the beginning of treatment to the end.