This bestselling classic presents seminal theory and research on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Together, the leading editors and contributors comprehensively examine how trauma affects an individual's biology, conceptions of the world, and psychological functioning. Key topics include why certain people cope successfully with traumatic experiences while others do not, the neurobiological processes underlying PTSD symptomatology, enduring questions surrounding traumatic memories and dissociation, and the core components of effective interventions. A highly influential work that laid the foundation for many of the field's continuing advances, this volume remains an immensely informative and thought-provoking clinical reference and text. The preface to the 2007 paperback edition situates the book within the context of contemporary research developments. 

I. Background Issues and History
1. The Black Hole of TraumaBessel A. van der Kolk and Alexander C. McFarlane
2. Trauma and Its Challenge to Society Alexander C. McFarlane and Bessel A. van der Kolk
3. History of Trauma in Psychiatry Bessel A. van der Kolk, Lars Weisaeth, and Onno van der Hart
II. Acute Reactions
4. Stress versus Traumatic Stress: From Acute Homeostatic Reactions to Chronic PsychopathologyArieh Y. Shalev
5. Acute Posttraumatic Reactions in Soldiers and CiviliansZahava Solomon, Nathaniel Laror, and Alexander C. McFarlane
III. Adaptations to Trauma
6. The Classification of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Elizabeth A. Brett
7. The Nature of Traumatic Stressors and the Epidemiology of Posttraumatic ReactionsAlexander C. McFarlane and Giovanni de Girolamo
8. Resilience, Vulnerability, and the Course of Posttraumatic ReactionsAlexander C. McFarlane
9. The Complexity of Adaptation to Trauma: Self-Regulation, Stimulus Discrimination, and Characterological Development Bessel A. van der Kolk
10. The Body Keeps the Score: Approaches to the Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Bessel A. van der Kolk
11. Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Clinical and Research SettingsElana Newman, Danny G. Kaloupek, and Terence M. Keane
IV. Memory: Mechanisms and Processes
12. Trauma and MemoryBessel A. van der Kolk
13. Dissociation and Information Processing in Posttraumatic Stress DisorderBessel A. van der Kolk, Onno van der Hart, and Charles R. Marmar
V. Developmental, Social, and Cultural Issues
14. Traumatic Stress in Childhood and Adolescence: Recent Developments and Current ControversiesRobert S. Pynoos, Alan M. Steinberg, and Armen Goenjian
15. Prior Traumatization and the Process of Aging: Theory and Clinical ImplicationsPetra G. Aarts and Wybrand Op den Velde
16. Legal Issues in Posttraumatic Stress DisorderRoger K. Pitman, Landy F. Sparr, Linda S. Saunders, and Alexander C. McFarlane
17. Trauma in Cultural Perspective Marten W. deVries
VI. Treatment
18. A General Approach to Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Bessel A. van der Kolk, Alexander C. McFarlane and Onno van der Hart
19. Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress: Consultation, Training, and Early TreatmentRobert J. Ursano, Thomas A. Grieger, and James E. McCarroll
20. Acute Preventive InterventionsBeverley Raphael, John Wilson, Lenore Meldrum, and Alexander C. McFarlane
21. Acute TreatmentsGordon J. Turnbull and Alexander C. McFarlane
22. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress DisorderBarbara Olasov Rothbaum and Edna B. Foa
23. The Psychopharmacological Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress DisorderJonathan R. T. Davidson and Bessel A. van der Kolk
24. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: The Nature of the Therapeutic RelationshipJacob D. Lindy
25. The Therapeutic Environment and New Explorations in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress DisorderStuart W. Turner, Alexander C. McFarlane, and Bessel A. van der Kolk