"Posttraumatic stress disorder therapy – is it worth listening to scientists?" - prof. Agnieszka Popiel (SWPS University), Brain Week 2023, March 16, Nencki Institute Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - the effect of confrontation with a traumatic stressor occurs in over 50% of people who have experienced rape or war, and about 10% of victims of road accidents. PTSD negatively affects the quality of life, is associated with the suffering of the person and often the entire family and costs (sick leave, absence from work, failure to use one's own creativity and potential). Each of these consequences is a sufficient premise to intensify research on effective methods of PTSD treatment and prevention. During the lecture, we will present how research on the effectiveness of psychotherapy is conducted, what questions we have answers to, and which ones are still a mystery. Which methods of psychotherapy have been well researched and which have not been researched at all? What does “psychotherapy based on scientific data” mean in the light of domestic research results, international recommendations, new methods of therapy and … pragmatics. Dr. Hab. Agnieszka Popiel, professor at SWPS University: psychotherapist, psychotherapy supervisor, psychiatrist. In scientific research, clinical and educational practice, she deals primarily with the psychopathology of trauma and PTSD and psychotherapy - its effectiveness and mechanisms of action as well as the implementation of therapeutic methods, the effectiveness of which was determined in research. As part of the TRAKT I-III programs, she conducted clinical research on trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), primarily the first studies in Poland comparing the effectiveness of psycho- and pharmacotherapy for PTSD. She developed a PTSD cognitive therapy protocol, the main assumptions of which are the basis of the PTSD prevention program "Effective action under stress" published as an intervention protocol in 2019, the effectiveness of which was tested in people exposed to occupational traumatization. At SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, since 2007 she has co-directed four-year postgraduate studies in psychotherapy - the School of Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy and the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Clinic of SWPS University. Author and co-author of several dozen conference presentations, research, theoretical works and textbooks on psychotherapy, supervision of psychotherapy, trauma and PTSD (in 2022 - an extended edition of the textbook "Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy. Theory and Practice"). Brain Week 2023 is financed as part of the project "Brain Week all year round" co-financed from the state budget under the program of the Minister of Education and Science called Social Responsibility of Science project number SONP / SN / 549411/2022 amount of funding PLN 81,500 total value of the project PLN 90,600. Subtitles KS