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Feature Topic

New Guidelines for Managing PTSD

A panel of experts from VA and the Department of Defense developed the latest guideline for managing PTSD and acute stress disorder.

The 2017 Clinical Practice Guideline (PDF) includes the most effective treatments for PTSD, rated both for the quality of the clinical studies and the strength of the recommendations.

What are the Most Effective Treatments for PTSD?

There are a number of treatment options including psychotherapy (talk therapy) and/or medication. Studies have shown that in general, trauma focused psychotherapy is more effective than medications.

Trauma-focused psychotherapies are the most highly recommended type of treatment for PTSD. This type of treatment focuses on the memory of the traumatic event and its meaning, and use different techniques to help you process your traumatic experience.

The trauma-focused psychotherapies with the strongest evidence are:

• Prolonged Exposure (PE): PE teaches you how to gain control by facing your negative feelings
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): CPT teaches you to reframe negative thoughts about the trauma.
• Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR helps you process and make sense of your trauma while paying attention to a back-and-forth movement or sound (like a finger waving side to side, a light, or a tone).

Medications for PTSD. Medications that have been shown to be helpful in treating PTSD symptoms include ones also used for symptoms of depression and anxiety, including sertraline, paroxetine, fluoxetine, and venlafaxine.

Read all the recommendations in the 2017 Clinical Practice Guideline (PDF).

What treatment is right for me?

No one treatment is right for everyone. You can discuss treatment options with your health care provider, and determine which ones are best for you based on the benefits, risks, and side effects of each treatment.

Use our PTSD Treatment Decision Aid to help you compare PTSD treatment options. You can:

• Build a chart to compare the treatments you like most
• Print or save a personalized summary of your goals and preferences and share it with your provider at your next visit

Will I Get Better?

For some people, treatment can get rid of symptoms altogether. Others find they have fewer symptoms or feel that their symptoms are less intense.

Treatment provides the opportunity to improve symptoms, personal and professional relationships, and quality of life.

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For Providers

Questions about the Clinical Practice Guideline?

Several members of the PTSD Consultation Program team of expert clinicians, including our director
Dr. Sonya Norman, were a part of the working group that developed the 2017 Clinical Practice Guideline. They are available to answer questions from providers about the new guideline and discuss the implications for treating specific Veteran patients.

Our consultants are also available by email or phone to answer any other questions related to PTSD and Veterans. Our services are available at no charge to providers in any context, including outside of VA.

Contact us at PTSDconsult@va.gov or 866-948-7880.

Learn More: Free Webinars This Fall

The PTSD Consultation Program Monthly Lecture Series will offer three one-hour lectures about the new CPG this fall. Lectures are on the third Wednesday of the month at 2pm ET and free CEUs will be available.

SAVE THE DATES

The 2017 Revised Clinical Practice Guideline for PTSD Webinars:

• September 20: Recommendations for Psychotherapy, Jessica Hamblen, PhD
• October 18: Recommendations for Medications, Matthew Friedman, MD, PhD
• November 15: Why It Matters for Primary Care Providers and What Resources are Available, Andrew Pomerantz, MD and Nancy Bernardy, PhD

Subscribe

Subscribe to receive monthly emails that include a registration link and instructions for joining the live lectures.

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Research at the Center

Potential New Path for PTSD Treatment

A study of PTSD conducted by the VA National Center for PTSD, National PTSD Brain Bank, and Yale University has identified a new potential mechanism contributing to the biology of the disorder that may be targeted by future treatments. Read more.

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PTSD in the News

PTSD Awareness: Overcoming the Stigma for More Effective Treatment. Dr. Sonya Norman answered questions about stigma in seeking treatment for PTSD, and the most effective PTSD treatments. Read more.*

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

Thank you,

The Staff of VA’s National Center for PTSD

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