Trial of Art Therapy During Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD (Art_Tx_PTSD)

Hampton VA Medical Center

Status: Terminated

Conditions: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder; Stress Disorder, Post-Traumatic

Treatments: Behavioral: Cognitive Processing therapy; Behavioral: Art + CPT; Behavioral: CPT + Art Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT02610049

13-04

Details and patient eligibility

About

This is a randomized, controlled trial of adjunctive art therapy during cognitive processing therapy for PTSD.

Full description

The objective of this study is to examine the effects of art therapy with combat veterans who have PTSD and to measure if it reduces symptoms more than verbal Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) alone. This study will incorporate art processes and materials into an already established protocol of CPT in order to create a sense of safety for veterans in beginning therapy, and access the nonverbal parts of the trauma in order to process it. Art-making will be used to help veterans address trauma and integrate who they were before the trauma with who they are currently. It will assist in addressing the grief and loss caused by combat, and will be used as veterans begin building a worldview and self-concept that are not filled with trauma and war. It is hypothesized that the veterans who receive art therapy with CPT will show a significantly greater decrease in PTSD symptoms than those who receive only CPT.

Enrollment: 31 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• PCL-M initial score >= 50;
• Both genders,
• All ethnicities,
• Veterans in treatment for PTSD,

Exclusion criteria

• No active substance use disorder,
• No active suicidal or homicidal ideation,
• No psychosis

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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31 participants in 3 patient groups

Control

Active Comparator group

Description:

Subjects will receive 8 sessions of Cognitive Processing Therapy.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Cognitive Processing therapy

Experimental

Experimental group

Description:

Subjects will receive 8 sessions of CPT + Art Therapy 8 sessions of individual therapy.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Art + CPT

Experimental 2

Experimental group

Description:

Subject to receive 8 sessions of individual therapy for Art + CPT Cognitive Processing Therapy intervention pre-specified to be administered separately.

Treatment:

Behavioral: CPT + Art Therapy