{"id":56934,"date":"2020-02-04T19:46:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T19:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/04\/va-dod-recommended-ptsd-therapies-dont-help-many-military-patients-review-finds\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:12:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:12:55","slug":"va-dod-recommended-ptsd-therapies-dont-help-many-military-patients-review-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2020\/02\/04\/va-dod-recommended-ptsd-therapies-dont-help-many-military-patients-review-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"VA, DoD recommended PTSD therapies don\u2019t help many military patients, review finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The psychotherapy approaches considered by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense to be front-line treatments for military-related PTSD don\u2019t work for up to two-thirds of patients, a new report published in JAMA Insights finds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive processing therapy, or CPT, and prolonged exposure therapy, PE, are two approaches for treating post-traumatic stress disorder that focus on a patient\u2019s traumatic experiences and helps them process the memories associated with the horrific events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a review of results from several large clinical studies conducted since 2015 on military personnel and veterans, researchers with New York University\u2019s Grossman School of Medicine found these psychotherapies have limited success in these patients, despite recommendation as preferred treatments in the VA\/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, according to the review published Jan. 30 by JAMA, interventions that don\u2019t focus on traumatic events, such as present-centered talk therapy, transcendental meditation<\/a> and medication, seem to work about as well as emotionally charged PE and CPT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, these new findings suggest that first-line psychotherapies do not effectively treat military-related PTSD in large proportions of patients and do not outperform non-trauma-focused interventions,\u201d wrote lead author Maria Steenkamp, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Grossman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report did find that all active treatments considered \u2014 including PE, CPT, present-centered therapy, meditation and medications \u2014 reduced PTSD symptoms, often \u201cwith moderate to large effect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, just 31 percent to 50 percent of patients actually achieved what Steenkamp would call \u201ca clinical success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe found that a third to half the patients respond well [to CBT or PE]. Of course that\u2019s the same way as saying two-thirds to half don\u2019t respond in a way that we would consider successful,\u201d Steenkamp said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t