Reducing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptoms in First Responders and Frontline Health Care Workers

Reducing PTSD Symptoms in First Responders and Frontline Healthcare Workers Through Trauma-focused Treatment in Employee Assistance Programs

This study addresses PTSD symptoms in First Responders and Healthcare workers. Specifically, it tests whether a brief PTSD treatment (talk therapy) effectively treats PTSD when provided to First Responders and Healthcare workers by counselors in Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).

The central hypothesis is that the PTSD treatment, Prolonged Exposure for Primary Care (PE-PC), will reduce PTSD symptoms and improve functioning, compared to EAP Treatment as Usual (TAU).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Are employees at an orginization served by a participating EAP
• Have a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PCL-5) score ≥33
• Have had psychotropic medication stability for at least 4 weeks

Inclusion criteria for the qualitative portion of the study:

- Enrolled into the randomized clinical trial and were a treatment responder or were a treatment non-responder

Exclusion Criteria:

• Severe cognitive impairment that in the judgment of the investigators makes it unlikely that the participant can adhere to the study regimen (as evidenced by confusion, inability to track discussion or answer questions, or other clear and significant indicators of cognitive impairment)
• High risk of suicide (defined as meeting criteria for Action Step 3 on the Participant Suicide Risk Screening form: found in protocol)
• Need for detoxification
• Active psychosis or unmanaged bipolar disorder, as measured by items 12 and 13 of the cross cutting assessment
• Currently engagement in a trauma-focused behavioral treatment (such as Prolonged Exposure or Cognitive Processing Therapy).
• Patients who do not speak English will be excluded for logistical reasons.