Jennifer Smith, Aklile Workneh and Sanni Yaya (2020) completed a systematic review of the barriers and facilitators to help-seeking for individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder. They reported on ten themes that influence help seeking. These are good food for thought for therapists. Understanding, what factors may help or hinder a
Larsen and colleagues (2020) examined this question in a community sample of participants receiving CPT. Previous investigations had been primarily in randomized clinical trials. The concern with these trials has been that the participants and therapists are in some way different to the “average” community-based clinic. For example, therapists may
Can clients get better by having an intensive episode of care? Clients attending for 10 to 15 sessions of therapy over a two to three week period might sound counter intuitive when the problem is complex, chronic and severe PTSD for many years. Sciarrino and colleagues (2020) completed a systematic
Clinicians always like to know how to help their clients stay in therapy. Some research has focused on demographic and pre-treatment predictors of dropout, and findings have been inconsistent. Other research has focussed on practical matters such as difficulty with scheduling appointments and these have previously been highlighted on this
Dedert and colleagues examined this question with 575 veterans seeking treatment for PTSD in a VA outpatient clinic. They examined the association of preparatory group treatment with engagement in and treatment response to subsequent trauma-focused psychotherapies, cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure therapy (PE). Nearly four hundred (391) veterans
There are a number of effective treatments for PTSD. However, some clients are left with residual symptoms even after successful treatment. This also appears to be associated with the common comorbidity of depression. These are important considerations for treatment and client quality of life. Zayfert and DeViva (2004) reported of
How best to treat this often-residual symptom can be a challenge. Knowing what kind of approach to use is part of the challenge for clinicians. Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) focuses on nightmares exclusively, CBT-I focusses on insomnia, a side effect of nightmares. A 2012 meta-analysis by Casement and Swanson concluded
This is a question often heard in supervision. When it comes to Cognitive Processing Therapy and this question, there is research to help guide clinicians. LoSavio, et al. (2019) examined unhelpful beliefs that therapist might have about CPT (in CPT language “stuck points”) and PTSD treatment. For example, “If I
It might seem counter intuitive, but there is evidence that supports the treatment of co-morbid PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) with CPT. Crocker et al. (2019) trialed a variation of CPT modified for mTBI; SMART-CPT combined compensatory cognitive training components of Cognitive Symptom Management and Rehabilitation Therapy (CogSMART)
The simple answer is YES. Rosner and colleagues (2019) put this to test via a multicenter, randomized clinical trial of 88 participants (aged 14-21 years), with developmentally adapted Cognitive Processing Therapy (D-CPT). Cognitive Processing Therapy was adapted by the addition of some of the following: • Inclusion of a motivational