Deployment Psychology Blog

Staff Perspective: CPT Group for Military-Connected Patients: Applying Research to Clinical Practice

Carin Lefkowitz, Psy.D.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is one of the gold-standard treatments available to adults with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and remains a first-line recommended treatment in the latest VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder (DVA & DoD, 2017).  CPT is a robust and flexible treatment in that it can be delivered with or without a written trauma account, in person or via tele-health, and individually or in group format.  Dozens of randomized control trials and effectiveness trials demonstrate that CPT is one of the most effective treatments for PTSD in both civilian and military-connected populations.

Research Update: 14 June 2018

The weekly research update contains the latest news, journal articles, useful links from around the web. Some of this week's topics include:
● Associations of Time-Related Deployment Variables With Risk of Suicide Attempt Among Soldiers: Results From the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS).
● The role of personal practice in therapist skill development: a model to guide therapists, educators, supervisors and researchers.
● The effects of clinical supervision on supervisees and patients in cognitive behavioral therapy: a systematic review.

Staff Perspective: Management of PTSD Symptoms: New Recommendations from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense

In late 2017, the Department of Veterans Affairs in conjunction with the Department of Defense published an update to their practice guidelines for the management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This two-part blog will highlight the major recommendations of the new practice guideline: part 1 will focus on recommendations for screening and assessment and part 2 will focus on treatment considerations. Although we hope that these blogs help to clarify the major elements of the new guideline, we strongly suggest that all clinicians review the guideline for themselves. The full guideline as well as the Clinician Summary and Pocket Guide can all be viewed and downloaded in PDF format here.

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