Mission & Vision Statement
Promoting service member readiness is imperative to our national security and the United States' steadfast posture on the International stage. Mental health disorders must be prevented and treated in order to maintain a healthy and lethal fighting force to deter future aggression. The Center for Deployment Psychology's research program will improve Warfighter Readiness and optimize service member performance through:
- Identifying and intervening for individuals at risk
- Developing innovative ways to improve mental health outcomes
- Building pathways that increase access to evidence-based mental health care
Participants Wanted!
DREAMSS
PARTICIPANTS NEEDED! Researchers at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) are seeking US military Veterans to participate in a study examining sleep and suicidal thoughts. To be eligible for this study, you must be a US Veteran aged 18-65 who deployed in support of the War on Terror, experience sleep problems, have had suicidal thoughts in the past 90 days, and be receiving behavioral health care. You will receive compensation for your participation.
For more information, please reach out to our study team at DREAMSS@usuhs.edu, or take the pre-screener survey to see if you qualify: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DREAMSS-prescreen
PreparED
Seeking training in eating disorders? The preparED curriculum aims to provide healthcare providers with a broad overview of basic, but essential information on eating disorders in military settings. This training is approximately 70 minutes in length and covers four modules: Assessment, Medical Complications, Treatment, and Military-Relevant Considerations.
In addition to the training, there is an opportunity to participant in a brief research study about eating disorders training,
To learn more, please visit our website: https://deploymentpsych.org/Eating-Disorders-Base
Current Studies
CDP's research program supports military mental health through dissemination/implementation studies, health services research, and patient-focused projects. We support a portfolio of over $15m in FY25. Learn more about our current work by clicking on the title.
CDP is leading three studies of creative arts therapies for military-connected individuals.
- CAT Implementation (PI: Paxton Willing) is a multi-study project involving program evaluation of the creative arts therapies within the DIN, a systematic review of the literature, and a research training program for creative arts therapists.
- CBT-N+AT (PI: Paxton Willing) integrates art therapy directives into an evidence-based psychotherapy for nightmares. A mixed-methods study will inform recommendations for cultural adaptations to the manual.
- Mask Making (PI: Paxton Willing) is a RCT of the mask making directive as treatment for moral injuries.
Dissemination & Implementation for Ukraine (PI: Brim) will continue the CDP’s support of Ukrainian behavioral health providers through dissemination and implementation support of evidence-based psychotherapies.
DREAMSS (PI: Paxton Willing) is a study of the daily effects of sleep on suicide ideation in Veterans. Read more on the CDP Blog
SLED-MC (Co-PI: Paxton Willing) seeks to reduce suicide risk in Marines by improving sleep health from a population health approach in collaboration with San Diego State University and the National Center for PTSD. Read more on the CDP Blog
Turning Training Into Action (Site PI: Cook) is a dissemination and implementation study of evidence-based psychotherapies for sleep and PTSD in collaboration with Purdue University. Read more on the CDP Blog
WET with Techs (Site PI: Cook) is a collaborative effort with the National Center for PTSD and the STRONG STAR Consortium. This study will examine the use of behavioral health technicians in the delivery of Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD.
Contact Us
To be notified of opportunities to participate in our research studies or to take part in a community advisory board, please complete our contact card at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CDPcontact.
For questions or more information, please email us at cdp-research@usuhs.edu.