Memory-focused therapy: an integrated intervention to reduce trauma symptoms, maladaptive cognitive processes, and...

Afghan youth continue to face chronic war-related trauma, terrorist violence, and severe disruptions to education and social support systems, resulting in high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. There is a critical need for culturally responsive, low-intensity, and feasible psychological interventions that can be delivered in low-resource and unstable settings.

This study conducted a preliminary evaluation of the efficacy, acceptability, and mechanisms of change associated with Memory-Focused Therapy (MFT), an integrative intervention targeting autobiographical memory processing, acceptance-based regulation, and future self-construction among youth affected by the Kaaj Education Center attack in Kabul, Afghanistan.

A single-group repeated-measures design was used with 26 participants assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and three-month follow-up. Standardized measures of PTSD, depression, anxiety, stress, cognitive avoidance, cognitive fusion, resilience, and posttraumatic growth were administered. MFT was delivered in 12 structured group sessions. Additionally, qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and therapist field notes were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Quantitative analyses showed significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, stress, cognitive avoidance, and cognitive fusion from baseline to post-intervention, alongside significant increases in posttraumatic growth. Several of these improvements were maintained at follow-up. Qualitative findings reflected four overarching themes: (1) facilitator experiences and implementation challenges in high-risk contexts, (2) improvements in cognitive and emotional processing, (3) growth in meaning, relationships, values, and future orientation, and (4) exposure to traumatic memories and reduced avoidance.

Findings provide preliminary evidence that MFT is a feasible, acceptable, and potentially effective intervention for trauma-affected Afghan youth. By integrating trauma memory processing, present-moment emotional regulation, and future-oriented meaning-making, MFT appears to support improvements in psychological coherence, self-continuity, and resilience. Further controlled and longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these effects and examine underlying mechanisms.