1. Testimony as Therapy, the Roots of PTSD, and the Reliability of Testimony-
based Information
By Oleg Nekrassovski
Testimony has a strong psychotherapeutic potential. In particular, the testimony
method is a variant of a trauma exposure technique, where survivors of trauma are asked to
retell their traumatic experiences to the therapist; who helps them to construct a coherent
trauma narrative, which, in the end, helps, or at least, should help the survivor to function
better (Weine et al., 1998). Not all survivors of trauma, however, suffer from traumatic stress,
and many of those who initially do, recover over time. Various theories have been proposed to
explain this phenomenon. The one developed by Foa and her colleagues is particularly
noteworthy (Foa et al., 1999). Also, testimony, whether of trauma or otherwise, is often
believed to constitute reliable evidence for what it describes. Such a view, however, has been
challenged, even in Indian dialectical tradition, which put far more faith in word-generated
knowledge than its Western counterpart (Matilal & Chakrabarti, 1994, p. 3).
The experience of describing one’s trauma to others transforms a private experience
into a public one and can work as a real mechanism of psychological alleviation (Igrela et al.,
2004). According to La Barre (who is a cultural anthropologist), in the many Native American
and Asian tribes, an effective way for erasing individual guilt and anxiety consists of ritual
confessions to a socially accredited person, such as a medicine man/woman, or to the whole
society in a culturally appropriate way; suggesting that testimony is universally used as a
psychotherapeutic exercise (Agger and Jensen, 1990). Though the confession of one’s sins may
seem very different from the testimony of a trauma survivor, it is not. In fact, distinct symptoms
of traumatic stress often consist of feeling dirty, disgusting, evil, subjugated, and deeply
embarrassed; as well as self-blameful, guilty and remorseful, despite obvious evidence of
innocence (Agger and Jensen, 1990).
While trying to explain the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), Foa and her colleagues concluded that the development and maintenance of
PTSD stems from two dysfunctional cognitions acquired by some trauma victims. One of these
dysfunctional cognitions is the conviction that the world is completely dangerous; while the
other is that one’s self is totally incompetent (i.e. incapable of overcoming any danger) (Foa et
al., 1999). Foa and her colleagues further suggested that there are two distinct types of people
who can acquire these dysfunctional cognitions. One type is someone who believes that the
world is extremely safe and he/she is extremely competent in dealing with anything. When
subjected to a traumatic experience, such individuals end up facing the intolerable conflict
between their convictions and their new experience, and overcome it by changing their
convictions to the exact opposite (i.e. the dysfunctional cognitions) making them in line with
their new experience (Foa et al., 1999). The other type of person who can acquire the stated

2. dysfunctional cognitions, is the one who has been experiencing trauma throughout his/her life;
with such experiences, not surprisingly slowly convincing the sufferer that the world is
completely dangerous and he/she is completely incapable of doing anything about it. On the
other hand, people with a more realistic view of their level of safety and abilities, are more
likely to interpret trauma as a unique experience and avoid acquiring dysfunctional cognitions.
Consequently, if treatment for PTSD is to succeed, it must involve the correction of these
dysfunctional cognitions (Foa et al., 1999).
Testimony began to be used as a therapeutic technique in Chile, in the 1970s. It was
largely done by psychologists who were supporting the underground resistance movement to
the military dictatorship that was in place in Chile, at the time (Agger and Jensen, 1990). The
aim of this enterprise was twofold. On the one hand, it aimed at treating the traumatic stress
experienced by those who have been imprisoned and tortured by the regime. On the other
hand, the testimonies produced through the collaboration between psychologists and victims
of the regime were collected as evidence of the repressive techniques used by the regime
against its opponents (Agger and Jensen, 1990). Thus, the Chilean resistance movement clearly
believed that trustworthy information can be transmitted through language. Such a view,
however, has never been universal among intellectuals.
The great philosopher of ancient India, known to the history as Buddha, urged his
disciples not to believe in anything just because it is said to be so by the many, or just because it
has been written by the sages (Matilal & Chakrabarti, 1994, p. 1). Moreover, apparently
realizing that his teaching on this point will not be taken seriously if he claimed his own words
to be an exception, Buddha is recorded to have said in his last sermon: “Do not trust my words,
rely only upon your own light” (Matilal & Chakrabarti, 1994, p. 2). Later Buddhist writers
elaborated on this point by arguing that words have no relation at all to the external objects;
they merely stand for the ideas or images in the mind of the speaker; and because the hearer
has no direct access to the private mental content of the speaker’s mind, he/she has no way of
ascertaining what, if any, external objects these ideas or images, from the mind of the speaker,
refer or relate to (Matilal & Chakrabarti, 1994, p. 3-4).
Thus, testimony appears to be an effective therapeutic technique for survivors of
trauma. Moreover, testimony psychotherapy is in many ways similar to various confessions of
guilt and anxiety in other contexts and for other purposes. However, the development and
maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder is not universal among trauma victims, instead
several prominent researchers believe that it is limited to people that have acquired two
dysfunctional cognitions about themselves and the world. Aside from being a therapeutic
technique, testimony has been frequently used as evidence for what it describes; implying that
reliable information can be transmitted through language. In Indian intellectual tradition, such a
view has been systematically challenged, most notably by Buddhists.

3. References
Agger, I. & Jensen, S. B. (1990). Testimony as ritual and evidence in psychotherapy for political
refugees. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3(1), 115 – 130.
Foa, E. B., Tolin, D. F., Orsillo, S. M. et al. (1999). The Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI):
Development and Validation. Psychological Assessment, 11(3), 303-314.
Igrela, V., Kleijn, W. C., Schreuder, B. J. N., et al. (2004). Testimony method to ameliorate post-
traumatic stress symptoms: Community-based intervention study with Mozambican civil
war survivors. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 184(3), 251-257.
Matilal, B. K., & Chakrabarti, A. (1994). Knowing from Words: Western and Indian Philosophical
Analysis of Understanding and Testimony. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
(Netherlands).
Weine, S., Kulenovic, A., Pavkovic, I., et al. (1998). Testimony psychotherapy in Bosnian
refugees: a pilot study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 1720 -1726.