In This Issue

Feature Topic

2013 in Review

In this issue we review PTSD developments and highlights from the last year.

PTSD Symptoms - Update

Read our revised page on PTSD symptoms. New PTSD diagnostic criteria were released last year. Changes were made to stay consistent with what we have learned over time. Instead of three groups, symptoms are now organized into four groups.

Doctors on How PTSD Treatment Can Help

View videos of clinicians who describe PTSD treatments. These clinicians join the Veterans who talk about their PTSD in About Face.

Some of the most effective PTSD treatments are:

• Cognitive Processing Therapy
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

PTSD Coach Online

Stressed? Angry? Bothered by reminders of war, an accident, assault, or disaster? Try PTSD Coach Online. Choose from 17 tools to help you manage symptoms after trauma. Our video coaches will guide you. Have a smartphone? Try the PTSD Coach Mobile App.

Mobile PTSD Education

We live in an on-the-go, convenience-driven society. To suit the busy lifestyles of today, PTSD information is available in new formats.

Audio Podcasts

Audio podcasts on PTSD are posted in iTunes and as mp3s:

• Understanding PTSD
• Understanding PTSD Treatment
• Returning from the War Zone: For families of Veterans.

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are also available. Treatment companion apps are for use between a therapist and patient, designed to make treatment easier. These include:

• CBT-i Coach: Get the most out of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia so that you can develop good sleep habits and sleep better.
• PE Coach: A mobile app to be used during Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy with a mental health professional.
• Stay Quit Coach: This app is designed to help you quit smoking with tools to control cravings, reminder messages, and support links.

Communities Helping Veterans

At some point in your life, you may come in contact with a Veteran who is dealing with PTSD. This could be at your job, in school, or in your neighborhood. Here are 2 toolkits that may help your understanding:

• VA Campus Toolkit: Provides college faculty and staff with resources to support student Veterans who are adjusting to campus life.
• Veterans Employment Toolkit: For employers, managers, supervisors, human resource professionals, and EAP professionals to support and retain Veterans in the workplace.

back to top

For Providers

DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD

The fifth addition of the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was released in 2013. Learn about the changes:

• DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD: Find out what's new.
• PTSD diagnosis from DSM-IV to DSM-5: Review the differences.
• DSM-5 measures will be posted soon!

Community Providers Treating Veterans

Last year, we released a toolkit and trainings for mental health providers in the community who work with Veterans and their families.

VA Community Provider Toolkit: Helps you learn how to connect with VA, understand military culture and find Veteran-specific mini clinics.

From the War Zone to the Home Front II:

Last year over 6000 providers signed up for this free online training series by nationally recognized experts who address PTSD and TBI among returning Veterans and their families. Access the 9 lectures from 2013 and 14 lectures from 2012.

As a community service, free continuing education credits (CE/CME) are offered via the Home Base Program.

Be sure to join us for the coming 2014 series.

Easier Access to Courses

For busy mental health providers who want to stay up on the latest in trauma care, we offer some new features.

• Find free courses that suit your needs in our revised PTSD Continuing Education Section. Use filtering to search over 50 online courses, training series and articles.
• Learn clinical skills from the multi-module Skill Training in Affect and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) course. Using STAIR will allow you to teach PTSD patients interpersonal skills and emotion regulation.
• Listen to dozens of audio podcasts from our PTSD 101 Curriculum, such as Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapies for PTSD. (Access from your mobile device or filter for "Course Series: PTSD 101")

Mobile Apps to Facilitate Care

Our popular treatment companion apps augment face-to-face care. See Mobile Apps for Professionals.

To learn about providing the interventions in the treatment companion apps, we suggest the following courses (also available as audio podcasts):

• Sleep Problems, Insomnia and PTSD
• Smoking Cessation: Integrated Care Model for Smokers with PTSD
• Prolonged Exposure Therapy

back to top

For VA Providers

2014 VA PTSD Consultation Program Lecture Series

Subscribe: Learn about our PTSD Lectures

VA staff, please sign up for VA Staff PTSD Updates to receive monthly notices that include a registration link and instructions for joining the live lectures.

Next Lecture in the Series

• 2 pm ET: 2/19 - Ariel Lang, PhD on Complementary and Alternative Approaches to PTSD Care

Mark your calendar for the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 2 pm ET.

Free PTSD consultation for anyone working with Veterans.
Call 866-948-7880 or
Email PTSDconsult@va.gov.

Assessment Measures for DSM-5

VA staff, please visit vaww.ptsd.va.gov (under Assessment) to find new versions of the CAPS and PCL.

back to top

Research at the Center

Key Center Research in 2013

Below are some key 2013 publications:

• Effectiveness of National Implementation of Prolonged Exposure Therapy in Veterans Affairs Care. Read the PDF.
• Web Intervention for OEF/OIF Veterans with Problem Drinking and PTSD Symptoms. Read the PDF. (This intervention will be publicly available on www.ptsd.va.gov next fall.)
• The Prevalence and Latent Structure of Proposed DSM-5 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms in U.S. National and Veteran Samples. Read the PDF.
• Examining the Relation Between the Serotonin Transporter 5-HTTPLR Genotype X Trauma Exposure Interaction on a Contemporary Phenotypic Model of Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology. Read the PDF.

back to top

PTSD in the News

President Obama Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists. Katherine Iverson, PhD of the National Center for PTSD was among

four VA recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government on science professionals. Read more.*

National Center for PTSD has "Tools" for Vets with PTSD.
Drs. Paula Schnurr and Matt Friedman were quoted in this Valley News article covering the visit of VA's Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, to the Center. The article focuses on the VA's AboutFace and PTSD Coach Online projects. Read more.*

The War Within: Treating PTSD. CBS' 60 Minutes featured a segment on group Cognitive Processing Therapy at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. Read more.*

Be sure to forward this update to others so they can subscribe. We send only one update per month to keep you informed of the latest PTSD developments.

Feature Topic next month: PTSD Provider Types and Careers

Thank you,

The Staff of VA’s National Center for PTSD

back to top