Publication year
2013
Citation Title
CAM and energy psychology techniques remediate PTSD symptoms in veterans and spouses.
Journal Name
Explore
Journal Volume
10
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
24-33
DOI
10.1016/j.explore.2013.10.006
Summary
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating disorder affecting many Veterans and their families, and there is a need for evidence-based treatment options for these families. PTSD symptom scores were compared at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up for Veterans and their spouses attending a week-long therapy retreat for PTSD using several complementary and alternative medicine techniques. PTSD symptoms were significantly reduced for Veterans and spouses following treatment.
Key Findings
There was a significant reduction in PTSD symptoms post-treatment for 54% of Veterans and 26% of spouses.
Veterans who met PTSD criteria before (83%) and after (28%) the retreat decreased significantly; Spouses who met PTSD criteria before (29%) and after (4%) the retreat also decreased significantly.
Gains were maintained for Veterans and improved for spouses at the 4-6 week follow-up, when 7% of Veterans and 1% of spouses met criteria for PTSD.
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer workshops or classes for military families that integrate the use of complementary and alternative medicine techniques to promote stress management
Develop informational sessions on PTSD resources for Veterans and spouses, including complementary and alternative medicine resources
Implement peer support programs for Veterans and spouses with PTSD to enable them to exchange social support
Implications for Policy Makers
Continue to support a range of evidence-based treatments for Veterans with PTSD and their families, including complementary and alternative medicine treatments
Encourage the development of partnerships among installation providers (e.g., family programs, chaplains) to offer holistic care to Veterans and their family members
Recommend education for providers working with military families about the benefits of and research evidence for complementary and alternative medicine techniques
Methods
Veterans and spouses were recruited to complete a questionnaire about their PTSD symptoms at the beginning and end of six, week-long camps, as well as at a 4-6 week follow-up, and 218 of 219 Veterans and spouses agreed to participate.
The retreats taught Emotional Freedom Techniques, which include elements of cognitive therapy, exposure therapy, and acupuncture, and other Energy Psychology methods in both group and individual sessions to help couples cope with PTSD symptoms.
PTSD symptom scores were compared between pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up for Veterans and spouses.
Participants
Participants included 109 Veterans, with a mean age of 51.1 years (SD = 12.3), and their spouses, with a mean age of 48.8 years (SD = 11.8), from a rural retreat center in the southwest United States.
Veterans had experienced an average of 1.4 deployments (SD = 0.6) and 2.3 years spent deployed (SD = 1.4).
No racial or ethnic information was provided.
Limitations
Use of a treatment-seeking convenience sample limits the ability to generalize the findings to other military couples.
The use of specific techniques during and after the retreat were not assessed, preventing specific conclusions about their distinct effectiveness.
Since there was no control group, it is unknown to what extent nonspecific treatment effects or other factors might have influenced the results.
Avenues for Future Research
Conduct a similar effectiveness trial with a larger, more diverse sample of military couples and a wait-list control group to increase generalizability and the ability to make causal inferences
Examine components of emotional freedom techniques to better understand which pieces and processes contribute to treatment gains
Explore the effects of emotional freedom techniques in family treatment of PTSD, including with children of military families
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Male veterans and their spouses (N = 218) attending one of six-week-long retreats were assessed for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms pre- and postintervention. Participants were evaluated using the PTSD checklist (PCL), on which, a score of >49 indicates clinical symptom levels. The mean pretest score was 61.1 (SD ± 12.5) for veterans and 42.6 (SD ± 16.5) for spouses; 83% of veterans and 29% of spouses met clinical criteria. The multimodal intervention used Emotional Freedom Techniques and other energy psychology (EP) methods to address PTSD symptoms and a variety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities for stress reduction and resource building. Interventions were delivered in group format as well as individual counseling sessions. Data were analyzed for each retreat, as well as for the six retreats as a whole. Mean post-test PCL scores decreased to 41.8 (SE ± 1.2; p < .001) for veterans, with 28% still clinical. Spouses demonstrated substantial symptom reductions (M = 28.7, SE ± 1.0; p < .001), with 4% still clinical. A follow-up assessment (n = 63) found PTSD symptom levels dropping even further for spouses (p < .003), whereas gains were maintained for veterans. The significant reduction in PTSD symptoms is consistent with other published reports of EP treatment, though counter to the usual long-term course of the condition. The results indicate that a multimodal CAM intervention incorporating EP may offer benefits to family members as well as veterans suffering from PTSD symptoms. Recommendations are made for further research to answer the questions posed by this study.
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