According to new research in JAMA, both massed and intensive outpatient forms of prolonged exposure (PE) therapy are fast and effective for the treatment of combat-related PTSD.
Researchers recruited 234 military veterans and personnel as part of a randomized clinical trial. The participants were treated with either massed or intensive outpatient formats of prolonged exposure therapy.
“This randomized clinical trial was conducted among military personnel and veterans at 4 sites in Texas from 2017 to 2019. Assessors were blinded to conditions. Data were analyzed from November 2020 to October 2022,” the study reads.
“The interventions were massed-PE, which included 15 therapy sessions of 90 minutes each over 3 weeks, vs intensive outpatient program PE (IOP-PE), which included 15 full-day therapy sessions over 3 weeks with 8 treatment augmentations.”
What researchers concluded: “These findings suggest that PE can be adapted into compressed treatment formats that effectively reduce PTSD symptoms.”
