The Psychiatric quarterly
-
The Psychiatric quarterly · Mar 2019
In Their Own Words: Clinician Experiences and Challenges in Administering Evidence-Based Treatments for PTSD in the Veterans Health Administration.
The aim of the present study was to increase the understanding of clinician experiences with administering two evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) for PTSD (Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure therapy) in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System (VA). The study assessed clinician perceptions through the use of two, one-hour focus groups and employed a rigorous data analysis approach, Consensual Qualitative Research. Clinicians who work in an outpatient PTSD clinic at a New England VA, and who routinely administer EPBs for PTSD, participated in the study. ⋯ Overall, clinicians provided a balanced perspective and identified both strengths and weaknesses of the EBPs for PTSD. They identified several challenges in applying these treatments to veteran populations, and shared their beliefs about treatment effectiveness, how they use these treatments in their clinical practice, and how they would change the treatments if given an opportunity to do so. In this way, the study offers a small but important step in attempting to address the science-practice gap related to EBP for PTSD implementation efforts in the VA.