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PTSD · Trauma memory, hyperarousal and avoidance — how threat learning overgeneralises and how evidence-based care supports recovery.

Reviewed 2026-08·Sources & research·Methodology·Media credits

PTSD
PTSDUser Washington irving on en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Eight voices who shaped trauma biology, clinical criteria and evidence-based PTSD care.

Portraits resolve via Wikimedia when licences allow.

People

01

Rachel Yehuda

b. 1959 · USA

Trauma biology

Influential work on PTSD stress biology and risk.

02

Roger Pitman

b. 1945 · USA

Psychophysiology

Biological studies linking conditioning to PTSD.

03

Arieh Shalev

b. 1940s · Israel

Prospective trauma

Early post-trauma trajectories and prevention science.

04 Edna Foa

Edna Foa

b. 1937 · Israel/USA

Prolonged exposure

Architect of prolonged exposure therapy.

05

Judith Herman

b. 1942 · USA

Trauma & recovery

Clinical frameworks for complex trauma recovery.

06 Bessel van der Kolk

Bessel van der Kolk

b. 1943 · Netherlands/USA

Body & trauma

Popularised embodied perspectives — evaluate claims critically.

07

Matthew Friedman

20th–21st c. · USA

VA / criteria

Leadership in PTSD research systems and nosology.

08

Patricia Resick

b. 1948 · USA

CPT

Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD.

Read primary papers; this page is not care.

Sources & research

  1. Post-traumatic stress disorderYehuda R; et al. · 2015 · Nature Reviews Disease PrimersPrimer on PTSD mechanisms and care.DOI
  2. Biological studies of post-traumatic stress disorderPitman RK; et al. · 2012 · Nature Reviews NeuroscienceBiological synthesis of PTSD findings.DOI
  3. Post-Traumatic Stress DisorderShalev A; et al. · 2017 · New England Journal of MedicineClinical review of PTSD.DOI

Media credits

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