Deployment Psychology Blog

By the Numbers

By Shirl Kennedy  on 15.05.2013 7:42 am

$138 million

The amount that would be saved in "social costs" (lost productivity, mental health treatment, and suicides) over a two year period following "implementation of evidence-based treatments" for PTSD and depression, according to a recent journal article -- Challenges and Successes in Dissemination of Evidence-Based Treatments for Posttraumatic Stress: Lessons Learned From Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD. According to the article, which appeared in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, that figure represents a reduction of roughly 15% in the total social costs of PTSD and depression over a two-year period in veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, calculated by health economists at  approximately $950 million.

CDP News: May 10, 2013

By Christopher Adams  on 10.05.2013 7:42 am

We’ve reached the end of another week, which means it’s time to review the latest news and look forward to upcoming events in and around the Center for Deployment Psychology in this week’s CDP News. As usual, our training efforts are keeping us busy and out on the road. This week as part of the University Counseling Center Core Competency-Extended program, we headed to Columbus, OH to hold a two-day session on Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) at The Ohio State University. It was a great event, as Dr. Ted Bonar and Dr. Elizabeth Parins. presented to over 100 university counseling center clinicians from all across the country. We’d like to thank all who attended and made it such a rousing success!

Research Update: May 9, 2013

By Shirl Kennedy  on 09.05.2013 7:42 am

The CDP's weekly research update contains the latest news, journal articles and useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include:

• Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military 2012
• Suicide Among Adults Aged 35–64 Years — United States, 1999–2010.
• Suicide Among Soldiers: A Review of Psychosocial Risk and Protective Factors.

Staff Voices: My Experience With Pet Therapy

By Regina Shillinglaw  on 08.05.2013 7:42 am

Human-animal bonding relationships have existed as long as humans and animals have lived, worked and played together--evidence of positive relationships between people and animals goes back thousands of years. More recently, dogs were used to help heal psychiatric patients in the military as early as 1919 and throughout various wars up until the present. However, a quick look at the literature examining the benefits of this intervention shows that we have a long way to go in building empirical support for the benefits of Pet Therapy. For instance, the Department of Defense does not currently have a department-wide policy regarding Pet Therapy and does not specifically endorse any project or certifying body. Animal Assisted Therapy is not currently listed as an evidence-based therapy for any specific disorder and is considered a complimentary or alternative therapy. On the other hand, there is ample anecdotal evidence of the advantages, and the utilization of Pet Therapy is growing rapidly. 

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