A pilot test of Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD in residential substance use treatment

Date

2023-06-17

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Schacht, Rebecca L., Kevin R. Wenzel, Laurel E. Meyer, Meghan Mette, Kamala Mallik-Kane, Aline Rabalais, Samantha K. Berg, and Marc Fishman. ā€œA Pilot Test of Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD in Residential Substance Use Treatment.ā€ The American Journal on Addictions n/a, no. n/a. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.13442.

Rights

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Schacht, Rebecca L., Kevin R. Wenzel, Laurel E. Meyer, Meghan Mette, Kamala Mallik-Kane, Aline Rabalais, Samantha K. Berg, and Marc Fishman. ā€œA Pilot Test of Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD in Residential Substance Use Treatment.ā€ The American Journal on Addictions n/a, no. n/a. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.13442., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ajad.13442. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wileyā€™s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Access to this item will begin on 06/17/2024

Subjects

Abstract

Background and Objectives Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly comorbid with substance use disorders (SUD) and can impede SUD recovery. Residential SUD treatment is a crucial opportunity to address PTSD. However, PTSD treatment is lacking in residential SUD care. Methods We conducted a nonrandomized feasibility study of Written Exposure Therapy (WET), a brief, evidence-based treatment for PTSD, with patients in residential SUD treatment. We assessed attitudes towards treatment (Credibility and Expectancy Questionnaire, Barriers to Treatment Participation Scale) and mental health indicators (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, Trauma Coping Self-Efficacy, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation-Short Form, and Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital). Results Thirty of 49 eligible participants completed WET (61%) and 92% (nā€‰=ā€‰45) attended at least one WET session. Paired sample t-tests revealed significant posttreatment improvement across all mental health indicators, with medium to large effect sizes. Discussion and Conclusions Attendance and completion rates compared favorably to prior exposure-based treatment for PTSD in SUD settings. Although causality cannot be inferred without a randomized controlled trial, mental health indicators, including PTSD, improved significantly following WET. Scientific Significance These findings provide evidence that PTSD can be successfully treated in short-term residential care using brief exposure-based interventions, which is a crucial clinical need that has been minimally studied in the past.